                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                      Pain, Suffering, and Confusion

                    (What it Means to the Child of God)

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By David Wilkerson
ca. 1981
__________

          In recent months I have had a sinking feeling inside
          me, a feeling that our entire society is spinning out
          of control. There is an eerie kind of confusion
          spreading throughout the land.

          There is a gnawing inside that no one (not our
          President, not our congress, not our courts) can change
          what is happening. In spite of the optimism of the
          President, we all seem to know he can't do a single
          thing to stop inflation, unemployment or crime.

          The divorce rate seems to be spinning out of control.
          Now even some of our best-known ministers are getting
          divorced. It's becoming a national plague! It seems no
          one is immune. It destroys the feeling of security,
          because it looks like our society is unraveling and
          falling apart.

          Our kids are going crazy! Ten million of them are
          victims of broken homes. They are mad and bitter and
          feel rejected, so they go crazy on parties, sex, drugs,
          and alcohol. There have been times lately that I
          thought it was totally hopeless - that we have already
          lost our young people. 82% now drink; 52% are on drugs,
          pot; promiscuous sex is everywhere. The only hope is
          that God is bigger than their problems.

          You look at the filth on television, the immorality of
          our nations, and you wonder to yourself if it is too
          late! Have we already lost all sense of morality and
          decency?

          The worst part is that the chaos and confusion is now
          hitting close to home. A great number of very godly
          people are suffering. Sickness, disease, divorce,
          depression: it's all now striking God's people. People
          who had the right confession, who practiced faith, and
          who loved God dearly can't understand why they and
          their families are sick. Cancer strikes! Unemployment
          hits! The bills pile up! Many end up confused, feeling
          helpless, wondering what hit them. Some blame
          themselves for a lack of faith, or they live with
          guilt, supposing that sin is the cause.

          I had a rock bottom experience recently. My daughter
          had a large cancer removed from her bowel. My wife was
          placed in a psychiatric ward for treatment. All of this
          happened right after I made a commitment to go back to
          the streets - immediately after a new commitment to a
          life of holiness and faith! Everything was going so
          well. My family was healthy; my wife was at my side;
          God was revealing new truth to me; and I had a powerful
          burden for lost souls!

          Then the bottom seemed to fall out. I felt helpless!
          Things were happening beyond my control, and within one
          week, there was total confusion and chaos in my life.
          In that confusion, God sent me a message - one that
          sustained me and showed me what it all meant. Let me
          share it with you.

          It is the message Christ gave His disciples just before
          He was taken by the priests in the garden.

          "Then saith Jesus unto them, all of you shall be
          offended because of me tonight: for it is written, I
          will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
          shall be scattered abroad..." (Matthew 26:31, 32).

          In the Original it reads,

          "All of you shall be confused because of me, this
          night..."

          Jesus' disciples did not understand a word of this
          warning! They didn't have the slightest concept of what
          was about to happen. It was the most important message
          they would ever receive, and they didn't get it! This
          very night would be the first of a three-day drama that
          would be the most important in all of history. A
          world-changing event was coming! God was about to
          redeem the world of all sin through His Son Jesus. A
          fountain of forgiveness and cleansing was about to be
          opened, soon to flow to all mankind. The disciples and
          the entire world were on the brink of the most
          glorious, joyful occasion ever!

          Jesus, knowing all of this, did not predict a night of
          rejoicing, expectation, or praise and glory. Why not?
          Why could they not spend this night in jubilation on
          the eve of victory for the church of Jesus Christ?
          Instead, Jesus predicted a night of chaos and confusion
          for every disciple. He said, "All of you - every one of
          you - shall be confused because of me - tonight!"

          These Christ-educated, miracle-working men of faith
          were about to be cast into an hour of chaos! All the
          faith in the world could not save them from this night
          of confusion!

          They were going to lose their sense of direction! All
          their guidance system will seem to fail them! They were
          going to end up feeling lost and running about as if
          they had no Shepherd!

          "I will smite the shepherd..."

          What a horrible moment! The night before, they sat
          under the stars on the Mount of Olives; they sang
          beautiful hymns. Jesus was there in their midst,
          revealing to them the truth. They felt the warmth and
          glow of His very presence. Suddenly, in one night, it
          seemed to be all over! The enemy moved in and, for a
          while, seemed to be in control.

          Suppose you had been there the night everything spun
          out of control causing untold confusion. It was a
          beautiful, calm, star-lit night in the Garden of
          Gethsemane. The drowsy disciples were comforted by the
          sound of intercession coming from their Master's lips.
          (My dad's praying used to comfort me so.)

          Visualize Judas, one of their own, leading that mob.
          They surround the Master; they are screaming,
          "Imposter! Kill Him! Murder the Man! Away with Him!
          Child of Satan!"

          These disciples watch in horror as the Pharisees and
          priests drag Him away like a helpless criminal. It is
          an impossible sight for them to behold! They had seen
          Jesus whip these same men out of the temple. They heard
          Jesus boldly call them vipers, hypocrites, and children
          of the devil! They knew Jesus vanished miraculously
          once from them at another time. In their hearts they
          must have been crying, "Call down a host of angels,
          Master! Escape once more! Don't let these hypocrites
          drag You about like a thief!"

          The disciples were panic stricken! It happened so fast!
          They weren't programmed for trouble and hard times!
          They had memorized and practiced all His teachings
          about miracles, power over devils, and asking and
          receiving! They had experienced sky-high faith when
          casting out demons, when the miracles were happening,
          when multitudes were fed, and when all needs were being
          supplied by faith.

          But their faith had never been tested by a night of
          chaos and confusion. They conveniently had shut out all
          His warnings about suffering and pain. They wanted
          nothing to do with the warnings about the afflictions
          of the saints - about persecution. They loved it when
          they were told they had power to speak the word - to
          bind and loose in Heaven and earth! But they didn't
          want to hear Him say, "Deny yourself. Lose your life.
          Sell and give to the poor. In this world you shall have
          tribulation - trial by faith - trial by fire. Endure
          hardships."

          Peter was the great man of faith in their midst. After
          all, he was the only one of them who had walked on
          water!

          He was the disciple who didn't believe in suffering or
          in crosses! Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for a
          time of suffering and pain, but Peter would have none
          of that negative thinking.

          "Jesus began to show His disciples how he must...
          suffer many things... and be killed.... Then Peter took
          Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, God forbid! This
          shall not happen to you" (Matthew 16:21,22).

          Imagine this disciple rebuking Jesus and saying, "You
          don't have to suffer! Master, claim Your own promises!
          Let me speak the word of faith and save You from the
          pain and suffering."

          I have heard honest men of God today, with the same
          misguided faith and zeal as Peter, stand before
          congregations and rebuke them for their lack of faith.
          They cry aloud:

          "You don't have to suffer! If you do, it is only
          because you have no faith! Get rid of your negative
          thoughts and words, and go your way, happy and
          prosperous, without pain or suffering."

          I am convinced that if Christ sat in the audience,
          hearing this kind of preaching, He would stand up and
          cry out the same thing He said to Peter: "Stop! Quiet!
          What you say is offensive to Me. You preach what is of
          man but not of God!" Peter was an honest man of faith
          and power, but he didn't know the deeper truths of the
          Spirit. It was also Peter who said,

          "Though all others are confused about You... I shall
          never be confused" (Matthew 26:33).

          Listen to Peter's theology. "Not me, Lord - no pain, no
          suffering, no confusion for me. My faith will help
          carry me right through everything. I know my spiritual
          rights. I believe God. I just don't allow suffering or
          pain in my life."

          But whose faith was the first to crumble under the
          pressure of confusion that night? Peter's! So it is
          with so many I know today. They go about boasting about
          their great faith and how they have conquered all
          disease and pain. But let cancer strike, let confusion
          and trouble fall, and they end up in total misery. They
          get confused by it all! They have no alternative but to
          blame it on secret sin or a lack of faith.

          This night even the Son of God would enter a time of
          confusion and chaos! Things would get so painful, so
          confusing, He would end up crying out, "Father, where
          are you? Why have You forsaken Me?"

          Not only did they face a time of confusion, but they
          were going to be scattered about like abandoned sheep.

          "And the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad"
          (Matthew 26:31).

          Look at our Lord's little flock now. Peter was
          wandering about in the hills, weeping, condemning
          himself for failing faith. The rest fled to the desert
          and countryside. They had forgotten the words of Jesus
          -

          "Fear not little flock, for it is my Father's good
          pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

          They were on the threshold of a new revelation of inner
          power and glory, but all they could see were the
          terrible things happening to them. No miracles now!
          Everybody is feeling mental pain! They are suffering!
          They are confused! They can't sense the presence of the
          Lord! The heavens are brass! They had given up heart!
          Mary Magdalene came running to them as they were
          mourning and weeping. She said, "He is alive! He's
          still our Shepherd!" But they believed her not!

          Why would God allow all this confusion, fear, chaos,
          suffering, and pain? After all, the disciples had not
          sinned or forsaken the Lord. Their faith at that time
          was real! They did nothing to deserve all the pain! I
          feel confident they ended up blaming themselves for
          what was happening.

          "We must have done something wrong! Our faith must have
          been too weak. We must be paying the price for sin in
          our lives."

          But not so! God permitted every moment, every event! It
          was all a part of His master plan!

          And it was not permitted simply to teach them a lesson.
          God didn't explain the reasons. He was not trying to
          educate them about some hidden truth. He was not trying
          to prove them. He was simply doing His own will. How
          often we think our suffering and pain is to teach us a
          lesson. We say, "Well, I hope He shows me what I'm
          supposed to learn out of all of this quickly, so I can
          get it over with..." If we end up in the hospital, we
          think it is God's way of getting us to witness to
          someone. We try to explain our suffering, hoping to
          justify God's way of doing things.

          There need be no other reason for your confusion, pain,
          and suffering than God working things out for you in
          His own way. It is most often the sovereign work of our
          God unfolding a master plan known only to Himself.
          Through all suffering of God's people, God is at work!
          The miracle soon follows the confusion!

             * Study your Bible, and you will discover these same
               patterns in the lives of all of God's people. In
               case after case, when God began to fulfill His
               promise, the roof seemed to cave in first!

             * Think of Daniel and the three Hebrew children.
               They gave themselves to a life of holiness and
               separation from the world and all its pleasures.
               Daniel pledged himself to a life of prayer, tears,
               and intercession. But what did that get Daniel and
               the three Hebrew children? Confusion just before
               victory!

          You don't go from the prayer closet to some mountaintop
          victory. You go to the lions' den! You don't go from
          consecration to a life of ease and blessing only. You
          go to the fiery furnace! Their theology was not afraid
          of pain and suffering because they knew it always ended
          in God having His way! Through lions and red-hot
          furnaces to God's perfect will!

             * Think of Elijah. God gave him a glorious promise
               of a spiritual awakening in the land, of an
               outpouring of abundant rain, and of a new day of
               victory for God's people. Ahab and Jezebel were to
               be overthrown. But look at all the confusion that
               broke out after the promise was given. Jezebel
               threatened his life, chasing him into hiding in
               the mountains. Wicked forces killed the prophets
               of God. The land continued in wickedness and
               drought. The Word of God seemed like a hoax! Can
               you imagine how confused Elijah must have been?
               "What kind of answered prayer is this? I'm left to
               my own! Where is the Lord? Has His promise
               failed?"

               And all the while God was brewing up the storm of
               the century! The confusion would soon pass, and
               the answer would be forthcoming.

             * Christ left His disciples a promise that could
               have seen them through all the confusion and pain,
               but they were too swollen up in sorrow to
               remember. He had told them:

               "After I am risen, I will go before you into
               Galilee" (Matthew 26:32).

          In other words, "Don't try to figure it all out. Don't
          question the time of confusion. It's not your fault;
          it's not your battle. God is at work! When this is all
          over, I'll still be going before you. Your shepherd
          will still be there." Do you understand this was
          between Christ and His Heavenly Father? It was not even
          the disciples' drama. They were affected by the working
          of God in someone else's life. My wife developed guilt
          by thinking she passed cancer to our daughter. She took
          God's work in Debbie's life as her own. I condemned
          myself because of my wife's battles. But God showed me
          that though I, too, may suffer, He is doing something
          in her. So I quit condemning myself and turned her over
          to God's keeping. Certainly what God is doing in those
          near us does bring us confusion and pain. But God wants
          us to trust Him to be leading through it all. We are
          not to be overcome with sorrow because of the pain and
          suffering of others. We must care, pity, and love - but
          then, we must turn it all over to a loving Father.

             * No matter what the disciples felt, no matter how
               confused things appeared to be - God was at all
               times in control! That is what this revelation of
               Christ is all about. In your most painful,
               confusing hour, stop and say: "God had everything
               under control."

          Yes, divorce is out of control. Pornography and lewdity
          is spreading. The government and world leaders are
          confused. It looks as if our world is spinning out of
          control. But that's the clue we've been waiting for!
          Christ is about to come! We are on the brink of a new
          world.

          Let us not miss the meaning of it all. God is doing His
          thing. Our Shepherd is still leading! And our suffering
          and pain will give way to a faith that will never fail.
          It will be a faith that has been tried, as gold, in the
          fire of adversity.

          Remember, the hardest part of faith is the last half
          hour, just before the victory comes.

          Finally, never be confused by confusion! It does come
          to the best of God's children at times. But the
          confusion is often God's way of calling out of us a
          faith based only on one fact:

          God will do what is right for all His children - in His
          time - in His own way!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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