Pertinent Questions on Suffering

In commenting on a previous post a reader made some statements about life being a learning experience and perhaps even continual chastening. In order to better understand their point I asked the following questions:
1. are you saying that living is suffering?
2. are you saying that life is a learning experience therefore we do not suffer?
3. or are you saying that all undesirable things that happen to us is the direct chastisement of God?
Then another reader suggested that I answer my own questions. And so I shall.

ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIVING IS SUFFERING? In this blog we have been discussing the subject of Human Suffering as well as in another blog. Always there seems to be confusion as to what constitutes suffering or a reluctance to accept the clear Bible teaching. In an effort to clarify the subject we have suggested that we sometimes suffer as the result of our own stupidity or carelessness. Allow me to give you a personal example. I do construction work. One late afternoon in October or November a few years ago I and my helper were framing a wall for a friend. As many do I was using an air nailer. You can probably guess what happened. Due to carelessness on my part I nailed my index and second fingers together with a 3" nail. I suffered twice in this ordeal. The pain from the nail and the pain of the hospital bill. But I learned to be more careful. I do not view this as chastisement from God or the kind of suffering He tells us to be prepared for. (I Peter2:19-21) I did nothing sinful.

It has also been suggested that we suffer from the chastisement of the Lord, Hebrews 12:5-10.
When I was a child I was disobedient from time to time and my parents would use the razor strap applied to the seat of learning to discipline me. I suffered some pain from that as well but it was punishment or chastisement for wrong doing. They disciplined me because they loved me. This is as God ordained it to be. God uses family, friends and even governments to chasten us today as we try to walk in His ways. But this is not the kind of suffering He tells us to be prepared for. (I Peter 2:19-21) He does indicate that we should expect this kind of suffering in Hebrews 12 and I Peter 2. This is suffering for wrong doing.

Living is not suffering but all living will suffer. This takes the forms mentioned above, chastisement for doing wrong and suffering for our own stupidity.

2. are you saying that life is a learning experience therefore we do not suffer?
Any who would take the time to reflect upon their life should reach the conclusion that life is a learning experience. I enjoy learning. This is a good thing since I am in many ways like my dad who is fond of saying that" he learns something new every day, usually the same thing he learned yesterday." It is not quite that bad yet but . . . . I enjoy learning new tips on how to do those things which I do, learning how things work and how to do things for myself, and of course things in the Scriptures that I didn't know or perhaps had forgotten. We can learn a lot from life and the things that happen to us. Sometimes these lessons are easy and sometimes we suffer in order to learn. While we need to look at our life and learn from it I do not believe God expects us to nor can we examine every tick of the clock and learn from it. Perhaps Solomon was using an hyperbole to stress the learning aspect of life. Life is indeed a learning experience which involves suffering.

3. or are you saying that all undesirable things that happen to us is the direct chastisement of God? In answer to this question I would have to say no. In the personal example I gave earlier, nailing my fingers together was an undesirable experience but not a chastisement from God. As I indicated I did nothing sinful in this regard. Since we from time to time need chastisement from God, he will provide it. In this sense it is continual but not continuous. There are two types of undesirable experiences. The first are those like the one above which are the result of our carelessness or stupidity. The other is the kind that we are told to be prepared for in I Peter 2. Those times that we suffer for doing what is right. Suffering is an undesirable activity which is a part of living.

May we approach life ready to learn from the suffering that comes from our carelessness and stupidity and that which is the chastisement of God. We must also rejoice when we are "counted worthy to suffer for the Name."