Christian Life Center

     A "Can Do" Congregation

Christian Life Center
5931 Rhodes Rd
Kent, OH 44240
ph: 330-678-9234
fax: 330-678-9515

A Word From The Pastor

 

"A Word From The Pastor" a weekly devotion, is sent out each week by email. Please email the church with your current email address to ensure that you receive this valuable devotion.  The church email address is: clckent@yahoo.com

  •                            Praising A God Who Allows Suffering (Part 1)
     
    The television scenes of death, destruction and suffering from the aftermath of the massive earthquake that hit     Haiti on January 12, 2010     are overwhelming at times. Yet in the midst of such devastation and pain Diane Sawyer, Anchor for ABC News showed a night scene of a mass of people singing and dancing with their hands lifted up praising God in French. Sawyer’s comment was, “These people have hope in God.” One might ask, “How could these Haitian Christians praise a God who allowed such great suffering?
     
    1. Suffering Accompanies The Freedom of Choice. When Adam and Eve choose to disobey God in Genesis 3 the curse of sin entered the world and with sin came suffering. Father God created humans with a free will that enables us to make choices. Loving parents do their best to protect their children from pain. But wise parents know the problems of over-protection. They know the freedom to choose is the essence of being human, and that a world without choice is far worse than a world without pain. Even worse would be a world of people making wrong choices without feeling the pain of consequences. There is no more dangerous person than the murderer, liar, thief, or molester who doesn’t feel the pain and suffering he is causing himself and others.
     
    2. Pain Can Warn Us of Danger. Nobody likes pain, especially when it hurts those we love. Yet without pain, when we are sick we wouldn’t seek out a doctor. Criminals wouldn’t fear the breaking of laws. Children would laugh at correction. We wouldn’t learn healthy and safe boundaries in life like not touching a hot stove. Without the pains of conscience, humans would act out sinful impulses that would hurt themselves and others. Even the wise Solomon was lured by pleasure and learned from his pain. Which shows that even great people can move from good and from God until captured by the resulting pain of their own poor choices (Eccl 1-12; Ps 78:34-35; Rom 3:10-18).
     
    3. Suffering Reveals The Condition of Our Hearts. Suffering may come from a natural disaster or at the hand of others. But it has an amazing way of revealing what’s in our hearts. Our true nature may lie dormant until awakened by painful circumstances. Our heart condition is found not in the ease of life but when fires of suffering and temptation test the quality of our character. As precious mettles like gold and silver are refined by fire, and coal needs time and great pressure to transform into a diamond, the heart is revealed in circumstances of suffering. Strength of character is displayed and developed in the crucible of human pain and suffering. The Apostle Paul said, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has give us” (Rom 5:3-5 NIV). The Haitian Christians have hope because they know that God loves them in their suffering.
     
    Pastor David Bittinger
      

                                         Praising A God Who Allows Suffering (Part 2)

    4. Suffering Provides a Glimpse Into Eternity. If death is the finality of life than a life of suffering isn’t right. However, if the end of life takes us to the edge of eternity, then the most fortunate people are those who discover through suffering, that this life is not all there is. There is something of eternal value to live and die for. Those who discover themselves and their Creator God through their suffering experience the blessings of pain. They have chosen in their poverty, pain and sorrows to turn to the eternal God. The Apostle Paul who was very familiar with suffering provided his eternal perspective on suffering, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed”  (Romans 8:18 -19 NIV). After suffering in the hospital for 105 days and at the edge of death my father Albert Bittinger asked me to read to him Revelation chapters 21 and 22 which describe the “new heaven and new earth.” He said, “Knowing where I am going enables me to endure the pains of today.”     

     

    5. Suffering Pulls Us Loose From This Temporal Life. Eventually, our employment, possessions, positions, popularity, and opinions are less and less valuable. Our physical bodies continue to age in spite of our best efforts. Gradually they surrender to the inevitable effects of time and wear. Joints feel the pain of arthritis. Eyes loose focus and grow dim. Digestion diminishes. Restful sleep becomes rare. Life’s problems become greater and greater while options become fewer and fewer. If death is not the end but rather the doorway into eternity, then the curse of aging is in reality a blessing. Each new day of pain makes this life less rewarding and the next life more appealing. Solomon made a case in the closing days of his life that the sufferings of aging provide a path for a meaningful death if you “Fear God and keep his commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 NIV).

    6. Suffering Provides Opportunity For Trusting God. The greatest example of a sufferer was Job. The Bible tells us that Job lost his family, his wealth, and his health all in a short time. Through all his sufferings God never revealed to Job why he was experiencing so much suffering. Job endured the demeaning accusations of his friends and God said nothing. Eventually God spoke, but he didn’t reveal that Satan had accused Job of false motives in serving God. Neither did the Lord apologize for allowing Satan to test Job’s devotion to God through enormous suffering and pain. Instead, God gave Job powerful and pointed lessons in the miracles of His created order. Job realized that if God was the Creator of this incomprehensible universe, there was good reason to trust God in his sufferings (read Job 1-42).

    May our sufferings provide a look into heaven that will help us release our grip on this life as we learn to trust God in all our struggles (Proverbs 3:5-6).

    Pastor David Bittinger       

  •                          Praising a God Who Allows Suffering (Part 3)
     
    7. God Suffers With Us in Our Suffering. There is no one who has suffered more than our heavenly Father. No one has known more suffering for allowing sin into the world. No one has grieved more over a lost and sinful race of human beings. No one suffered more than Jesus who paid the ultimate price of death on a cross for the sins of humanity. No one has suffered more injustice than Jesus when He stretched out His arms and died on the cross, to show us the extent of His love. It is this God who invites us to draw near to Him, to trust Him when we are suffering and when those we love also suffer (1Peter 2:21).
     
    8. God’s Grace Is Greater Than Our Suffering. The Apostle Paul appealed to God three times to remove an unidentified source of suffering. However, the Lord declined saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9-10 NIV).  Paul came to the understanding that he would rather be with Christ in suffering than without Christ in good times and health.
     
    9. In Our Sufferings, We Find Connection. No sane person would choose to suffer pain. But when we have no choice, there is some consolation to be found. Disasters like the recent earthquake in     Haiti and times of life crisis can be God’s instruments to bring people together. And have a way of clarifying our priorities in life. Suffering serves as a reminder of our own mortality and that people are more valuable than possessions. Our common sufferings shock us into remembering that we need each other and most of all God. The terrible tragedy of 9/11/01 brought Americans together and to God for a short period   of time. Every time we find God’s comfort in times of suffering, our ability to comfort others increases. Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”           (2 Cor. 1:3-4 NIV).
     
    10. God Turn Our Suffering For Our Good. The Bible provides many examples of this truth. Through Job’s suffering he entered into a deeper understanding of God and also became a means of hope for people of all generations to follow. Joseph through rejection, betrayal, enslavement, and unjust imprisonment was able to say to those who hurt him, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen 50:20 NIV). When we are screaming at heaven for allowing our suffering, we can look to Jesus in hope knowing that He loves us and He can bring good from our sufferings.
     
    Pastor David Bittinger    

CLC Community Prayer Focus
   CLC is trying to make a difference in our own community by praying for those men and women who serve in our city, county, and state, in jobs that benefit us all and set the standards we live by.
    We have prayed for the men and women who serve in the Cities of Kent and Ravenna; the Kent, Kent State University, and Ravenna Police and Fire departments, The Kent and Ravenna Schools, and the Portage County Commissioners.  We are going to be praying for State and national leaders as well.  Please remember those who lead and serve us,  and their families as they handle many difficult situations every day and need the guidance of God.  

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour"  (I Timothy 2:1-3).

 

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Questions about the website: clckent@yahoo.com

Christian Life Center
5931 Rhodes Rd
Kent, OH 44240
ph: 330-678-9234
fax: 330-678-9515