What do you do when suffering comes like a punch in the stomach and knocks the wind out of you? No one gets out of this sin-sick world unscathed by the cosmic effects of humanity’s revolt against God. Sin has turned everything in the world upside down and we live under the painful weight of it. At times, this weight erupts into the gut of our being with a vicious blow.

How do we breathe when our soul’s respiratory system is gasping for air?

Trite answers don’t suffice when the pain is deep. Suffering brings up hard questions: why is there pain in the world? How can a good God allow pain? We are left with two seemingly irreconcilable and opposing truths: that God is good, and that God is in control. The deeper our suffering, the further apart these things seem.

Sin is that Bad

The Bible doesn’t give platitudes to fill up this blank, gut-wrenching space. God’s word gives us a bigger perspective on suffering, with the cross of Jesus Christ center-stage.  Scripture tells us that the primary cause of pain is sin, which started with Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God.  The existence and depths of pain we see in the world points to the fact that something is deeply wrong. God created a world that was very good, but when Adam and Eve chose their own way over God’s, sin spread to all men and devastated all of creation, just as God said it would (Genesis 2:17).

“The canon of Scripture shows us tracks of blood from the very edge of Eden outward. The biblical story immediately veers from Paradise to depictions of murder, drunkenness, incest, gang rape, polygamy, and on and on and on, right down to whatever is happening with you.”[1]

When we experience suffering, we are awakened to realities that we usually ignore when things are going our way. We get a painful reminder that things are not as they should be. In our most excruciating moments of suffering, we taste what sin has caused with great clarity and testify wholeheartedly that sin and what it produces is awful. We can say with greater realization: “sin is this bad.” The horrific nature of sin is true all the time, but it is often in suffering that this truth becomes deeply relevant to us. It begins to explain not just our pain, but all pain. This understanding helps us point our inevitable anger in the right place – at sin, not God.

Scripture shows us that while sin and pain are fundamentally connected, they do not have a simplistic relationship. It is wrong to assume that if someone is suffering, it is directly related to specific sin in his or her life. God had harsh rebukes for Job’s friends when they made that mistake (Job 42:7-8). Sometimes suffering ensues directly because of foolishness (see the entire book for Proverbs), but in much of life, pain and sin have a much less direct relationship. Sin and pain aren’t connected the way basic math connects numbers — like, one sin minus one painful trial evens the cosmos. No; the relationship between sin and suffering is more like a deep, complex calculus that only God knows about.[2] Our painful circumstances are often frustratingly perplexing (2 Corinthians 4:8) and the Bible tells us that there are secret things that belong only to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29). We simply do not have all the information for how and why suffering works out in our life. But God does, and he is ruling redemptively over all of it. He promises to work all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), bring good from what the enemy intends for evil (Genesis 50:20), and comfort us in every affliction (2 Corinthians 1:4).

There are riches to be found by digging deep in gospel truths when we encounter suffering. As I sit in the truth about sin and suffering I begin to realize: I am party to the problem – not a victim or a bystander – because I am a sinner.  I, too, have usurped the rightful King of my life and put myself on the throne. And because of my treasonous heart, I deserve death (Romans 6:23).

The Gospel

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion…”

Former President Barack Obama posted this in a tweet along with a photo of himself looking into a window at children of different ethnicities, and it quickly became one of the most popular tweets of all time. He accompanied it with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” While these sentiments may sound nice at first, they leave much to be desired.

The tweet makes the assertion that human beings are, by nature, innocent. It suggests that love for others comes naturally to the human heart, declaring that no one is born “hating another person because of the color of their skin.” While this may be a heart-warming idea, it is not an accurate view of humanity. Sure, a 4-year-old who has a playmate of a different ethnicity may not seem to have any issues at first, and the argument could be made that culture and upbringing would be the cause of any forthcoming prejudices or racism. But this is not biblical, it is not realistic, and therefore it is not helpful.

It’s not biblical because scripture tells us that we are born with hearts that are “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible teaches that all forms of evil in the world, including racism, is not primarily due to our upbringing or culture, but is a result of the sin that dwells within us (Mark 7:21-23). To suggest that no one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin is partially true – we are not born hating people because of something about them, but because of something in us: our sinful, self-exalting hearts. Because of indwelling sin, our fallen hearts will use anything to exalt themselves and become superior to others. While there are many ways we do this on a daily basis, racism has historically been and still is one of the ways sin manifests itself. That is not to say that upbringing and circumstances are not highly influential – they are. But those things are not the ultimate cause of racism or any other evil – sin is.

The tweet is also not realistic. You could observe children from different ethnicities in a room playing together for any significant amount of time, and there would surely be sin and self-exaltation – the root of racism – rearing its head. Let the children grow up together and see how long it would take for them to notice their differences and use them against each other. As John Piper points out, it does not bother a self-centered heart that has already exalted itself over its Maker to exalt itself over others, and use any means possible (including the color of their skin or other differences) to do so.

It matters how we respond to the events in Charlottesville, or any other event involving racism. Countering with sweet-sounding platitudes isn’t the answer, but neither is ignoring it.  We have to name the real problem and provide a solution as potent as the evil we are treating – namely, sin and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to work with wisdom and Christ-like love to destroy systems that disadvantage groups of people and help build systems and support leaders that allow for the flourishing of all humanity.

The Bible tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:23). The root of racism is sin, and since all of us are in the same boat when it comes to that, there is no room for pride or defensiveness. We can stop being offended that we may have prejudices we don’t even know about. We can humble ourselves, admit that we are all sinners with blind spots, treasure the work of Christ, and offer the gift of God’s grace to others. We need to be humbled by the truth that we cannot save or change ourselves and be stunned by God’s love: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9).

We must also respond to God’s love with obedient faith. Believers shouldn’t politely bow out of the issue of racism or pretend it isn’t happening. Biblical love requires action. Perhaps the first thing we should do is humble ourselves before God and his word in prayer and confess the many ways we  we exalt ourselves every day over both our Maker and others and admit how blind we can be. We must confess that self-love, not love for God and others, is what comes naturally to our human hearts, and then rely on the finished work of Christ and the means God has provided – his word, prayer, his church, and obedient faith – to not only transform our hearts, but to give us wisdom in redeeming the evil time at hand.

Making decisions has always been hard for me.  Years ago, I agonized over whether or not to play volleyball in the next season — I wanted so badly to know what God wanted me to do! I was plagued by the fear that I would miss something really important, or maybe even disappoint God, if I made the wrong decision.  Somewhere along the line I picked up the belief that I had to figure out God’s exact plan for my life or hear his audible voice in order to make the right decision. While playing volleyball is a pretty trivial matter, this approach to decision making carried over into the more significant decisions of my life, which put me on a very ambiguous path and saddled me with a lot of fear, anxiety and indecisiveness along the way.

I was so relieved to discover that there is a more freeing, courage producing, and biblically sound way to make decisions. The decisions I’m talking about are ones that the Bible doesn’t give us direct instruction on – issues like where to go to college, what job to take, what house to buy, and a thousand others that are not spelled out for us in scripture. As believers, we are called to walk in a manner pleasing to the Lord (Ephesians 4:1) and live wisely and thoughtfully (Proverbs 4:26), so how are we to handle decisions that are not directly addressed in scripture but still have a significant impact on our lives?

Lay Aside the Arbitrary

My approach to decision making used to be something along the lines of: praying, looking for a sign from what I was already reading in scripture, listening for God’s audible voice, getting feedback from others, and taking into account my gut feeling about the situation. Sometimes this worked for me, but other times it really, really, really did not. God put decisions in my path that challenged this approach. My gut told me one thing, but a wise friend was telling me another. I thought I heard God’s audible voice, but then questioned if it was God’s voice or my own subconscious. I would find a verse that seemed to apply, only to discover that I took it out of context or ignored other concepts in scripture to suit what I really wanted. All of this confusion was compounded by the belief that God had a detailed plan for my life, and if I deviated from this pre-determined path I would end up with “plan B” – God’s second best for my life.

I experienced through a lot of trial and error that this view of God’s will and approach to decision making was faulty and incomplete. Thankfully, God showed me through his word and his people that there is another way. I discovered that what the Bible actually says about God’s will and his path for decision making is gloriously freeing and incredibly fruitful.

My view of God’s will began to change as I studied scripture and resources on the will of God. I discovered that much of God’s will is a mystery and it is not my job to figure it out. Scripture teaches us that God is the sovereign ruler of the universe and that every big and little detail in the world is subject to his divine sovereign will. From kings and rulers being appointed (Romans 13:1) to birds falling out of the sky (Matthew 10:29), to the roll of the dice (Proverbs 16:33), God’s sovereign will determines and governs all things. His sovereign will always comes to pass, and we usually have no idea what he is doing (Romans 11:33-34). Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that “the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” God does not expect us to figure out his sovereign will – he has not disclosed it to us. But God does call us to walk in obedience to the aspect of his will that he has revealed to us, and we can rest assured that he has fully revealed what he wants us to know and obey in his divine-inspired word (2 Timothy 3:15-17). It was incredibly freeing to learn that I am not supposed to figure out God’s sovereign will, and that the aspect of his will that I am supposed to know and obey has been made completely available to me in scripture.

I also discovered some serious pitfalls to making decisions based off of gut feelings, perceptions, listening for God’s audible voice, or a combination of these things. If you really got to the bottom of why I made the choices I did, my reasoning would have been “I don’t have peace about it” or “I felt led” or “God told me.” While peace is important and having a sense of God’s leading is important, I found these things to be unreliable because they are incredibly subjective, depending on perceptions and feelings rather than on truth found in the Bible. The Bible warns against putting too much weight on our feelings, our limited perceptions, or trusting our deceit-prone hearts (Romans 6:12, Proverbs 3:5, Jeremiah 17:9). Believers are not meant to be ruled by impressions, feelings or perceptions but by the rock solid reliability of God’s word, and allowing that to shape and guide everything else. If we rely on our fallible impressions or ability to hear God’s audible voice, we will likely either be crippled with uncertainty or emboldened with false assurance.

Treasure Wisdom

Thankfully, our loving Father has given us a much better way to navigate the bewildering path of decision-making. The Bible calls this beautiful and good way “wisdom.” While the decisions we are talking about are not directly addressed in scripture, they can be faithfully informed by scripture. For example, the Bible doesn’t say, “Do not open a credit card account,” but the Bible is full of wisdom on financial stewardship, warns against incurring debt, and should inform our use of credit cards. The Bible doesn’t give us specifics on whom to marry, but it has a lot to say about God’s purpose for marriage and should inform how we date, whom we date, and whom we choose as a spouse. We must use the Bible as our main source in decision making since it is the primary and normative way God guides and communicates with His children (Proverbs 30:5-6, Jude 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12). Instead of aiming for the discovery of God’s sovereign will (which is purposefully not disclosed to us) with our perceptions and feelings (which are unreliable), we can aim instead for the discovery of the wisdom of God (which is available to us) using the word of God (which is inerrant).

Since God’s word is our primary source for wisdom, we can draw some other conclusions about wisdom based on scripture. The Bible shows us some other elements involved in acquiring wisdom: the fear of the Lord, godly counsel, and prayer.

Proverbs 9:10 says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Wisdom begins with a right view of God. It is right and appropriate to have awe for the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, to tremble in his holy presence, to fear his wrath for sin, and to have deep reverence for the one who took that wrath and sin upon himself to save undeserving sinners for his glory. Fearing God humbles us and puts us and everything else in its proper place.

Proverbs also shows us that God provides wisdom through the counsel of godly people: “For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory” (Proverbs 24:6). Throughout the book of Proverbs there is a constant call to listen and receive counsel, as well as warnings for those who don’t: “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence” (Proverbs 15:32). Believers should seek out godly counsel and weigh it against scripture to ensure that it is, in fact, godly counsel. This wise counsel can help us see things that we normally wouldn’t and help us discern our motives (Proverbs 20:5).

Prayer is also one of the main avenues that God uses to apply his wisdom to our hearts. The book of James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). We are told to seek God’s wisdom through prayer. If you’re like me, prayer can be a struggle and a bit elusive. How does God use prayer to impart wisdom? At least one of the ways he uses it must be in our simple asking for wisdom, as James says. I love the admission of one of the writers of Proverbs: “Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One” (Proverbs 30:2-3). I am so glad that God invites our simple prayer for wisdom and promises to hear.

But we can go a step further with prayer. We should absolutely cry out the simple, short, desperate prayers for wisdom. But we also must go to the place where God’s wisdom is found – God’s word – and interact with it prayerfully.

“Our prayers should arise out of immersion in the Scripture. We should ‘plunge ourselves into the sea’ of God’s language, the Bible. We should study, think, reflect and ponder the Scriptures until there is an answering response in our hearts and minds.” [1]

As our prayer life is shaped by the purposes and priorities of God found in Scripture, the Holy Spirit applies God’s word to our hearts and we grow in wisdom. And when we are too confused and afflicted to know what to pray or how to pray, we can rest assured knowing we have a sympathetic High Priest at the right hand of God who intercedes on our behalf, and a great Helper living within us who takes our groanings and turns them into prayers before our Father (Romans 8:26, 34).

Seeking wisdom may sound like a lot of effort, and it is. Studying scripture and responding in prayer takes time and discipline. Receiving counsel takes humility. If we are to commit ourselves to these practices, we must believe that wisdom is worth having. We probably won’t find a better enticement to pursue wisdom than the book of Proverbs: “The gain from [wisdom] is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” (Proverbs 3:14-15).  The language used in Proverbs to describe a life lived by wisdom is extravagant. Words like crown, honey, adornment, riches, honor, pleasantness, pendant, garland, gold, silver, and jewels show up on almost every page of the book. The writer is showing us that the way of wisdom is incredibly beautiful and fruitful – worth our pursuing and treasuring.

Trust God’s Quiet Sovereignty 

For those who have struggled with decision making and wearied themselves trying to find a sure footing on its mysterious terrain, trusting the sovereignty of God and his wisdom is incredibly hopeful. It is a glorious thing to find that God does not leave us with guesswork and insecurity in the face of important decisions, but with generous wisdom and confidence in His care. When we are faced with important decisions, we have a unique opportunity to grow in wisdom and glorify God. We demonstrate the sufficiency of scripture and massive trust in God’s sovereignty when we humbly seek and submit to his wisdom and leave the results in his hands.

While we see in scripture the blessing of a life lived by wisdom, we should also recognize that our pursuit of living in wisdom is not a way to coerce God into giving us a pleasant life. Although making wise choices often results in blessing, and making foolish choices often results in suffering that could have been avoided, the Bible is clear that not all of our circumstances are a direct result of anything we have done.

“Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job sit literally alongside one another in the ‘wisdom literature’ section of the Bible, and it is important to recognize their different yet complementary perspectives on suffering. While Proverbs tends to emphasize the justice of suffering and how much suffering is directly related to wrongdoing, Job and Ecclesiastes vividly show how much it is not.” [2]

A large portion of suffering is the result of original sin, and for believers, there is suffering graciously given to us to make us more like Jesus. The point of pursuing wisdom (the point of everything for that matter) is to know, enjoy and glorify Jesus Christ – not secure a comfortable life for ourselves on earth. Our aim is to glorify God by walking in joyful obedience regardless of the results, which are in the hands of our sovereign, mysterious, good God.

We need to be reminded of God’s mysterious sovereignty, don’t we? There is a lot that we don’t understand – whether it’s the decisions we face, how life plays out, or the suffering we endure. God’s sovereign will is often a quiet unfolding that we don’t even recognize until we look back and see that his hand was working and caring for us all along. There are many things in our lives that are mysteries and may remain that way until we are at home with Christ. But instead of trying to figure out God’s sovereign will, we can live in freedom and joy knowing that He has given us all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and is truly working all things for our good and his glory.

We do need help from outside ourselves to make wise decisions and navigate the complexities of life, but this help is not found in an audible voice, signs or impressions that we could speculate about. God has communicated everything we need to know in Scripture, and this written word is what Hebrews 4:12 says is “living and active” – it is not dead, and we don’t need to seek new ways to hear from God. His word is more than enough to occupy our senses in our short time on this earth, and we can never plumb the depths of the wisdom of God that is found there.

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[1] Tim Keller, Prayer (Dutton, 2014), p. 55.

[2] Tim Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (Dutton, 2013), p. 134.