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Why God Wills You to Suffer
by
William M. Lolli
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Excerpts from the works of A.W. Tozer God’s Pursuit of Man, Knowledge of the Holy, and The Divine Conquest are used by permission of WingSpread, an imprint of Moody Publishers, 820 N. LaSalle Blvd. Chicago, IL 60610
Copyright © 2014 by William M. Lolli
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
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ISBN: 13-978-1-4566-2211-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905543
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Why God Wills You to Suffer/ William M. Lolli
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DISCLAIMER
In this book I frequently quote A.W. Tozer and statements from professors that teach at Bethel Seminary, San Diego, California. In no way are the positions taken in this book a reflection of their theological positions on this or any other topic. The conclusions I have reached I have reached alone.
The reader may also note many references where there is a lack of footnotes or bibliographical sources for what I consider common biblical phrases or concepts. This book assumes a certain level of biblical familiarization by the reader. Proofs for basic concepts like the universal depravity of sinful man or the doctrine of the Trinity are not given, presented or defended; they are assumed as established truth. Thus this book should not be expected to provide a universal apology for Christianity; its scope is narrow, even if its implications are broad.
PREFACE
As I write this preface in November of 2013, the media headlines are reporting the death toll from typhoon Haiyan after its swath through the Philippine Islands. Some are saying it is the most powerful and deadly typhoon ever recorded. Tornadoes in the United States this year did some nasty damage too, killing and destroying.
Both times my local church stepped in to help, and the calls went out for our Christian community to “pray” and “give”. No one can argue that praying and giving and helping those in need who are victims of these Acts of God are the right things to do.
The giving part is easy. The material needs for homes, food, clothing, and medical care are pretty obvious. The praying part is the hard part. What are we supposed to pray for? Did not God destroy these places? Our pastor says to pray for a special Presence of the Lord for the victims. He is right, of course, but isn’t God omnipresent anyway? Why, God, did these things happen?
It is a twisted, obtuse thought to suggest that God destroyed these places only to provide us with an opportunity to share the love of Jesus. Or is it?
Stepping back a little bit, “natural disasters” are only a small fraction of items that could be thought of as a cause for suffering. There’s external conditions, of course, like storms, famine, war, or disease; but there are internal conditions too like hate, loneliness, fear, greed, emptiness, the vast pit of sin—and a whole lot more.
What is it about suffering that makes us think about God in the first place? It seems to me that the entire human race spends every waking moment trying to avoid suffering. For most people, thinking about God only comes after suffering happens. But why? What’s the link?
Almost 20 years ago as a younger Christian believer I kept hearing about this thing called the Abundant Life mentioned by Jesus in John 10:10. To find out more I had lunch and a theological discussion with my [then] new pastor, Pastor Pat of Escondido Calvary Chapel.
I had just moved to Escondido, California, from Orange County, CA, after a devastating second divorce (from the same spouse). I was one of those naive Christians that thought that God would bless my marriage and heal our relationship if, in the second go-around, I dedicated my life to Him. The lesson I learned was that it took two to tango. One spouse dedicated to the things of God, does not a marriage make.
At that time I was new to this Calvary Church and I wanted to get to know the pastor. I wore my ‘best’ suit, which I had acquired through Goodwill. I did my best to disguise the fact that I barely had enough money to buy his lunch.
Beyond the introductory chit-chat, I pressed for answers about the ‘Abundant Life’ one can acquire through Christ. Pastor Pat was fairly strong in his assertion that the abundant life in Christ could be achieved “here and now” and that you didn’t have to wait for the “sweet by and by”. I had problems reconciling all that ‘abundant life’ stuff with my world, where I saw no evidence of it. The inquiry as to how this life was to be achieved was responded with the combinations of living a life of faith, walking the spiritual walk with the Lord, and being a good steward.
Okay. I had heard this list before and I could buy that. It makes sense. Simple causality. I am His child. I do this, God does that.
Behind this method were other notions that the Abundant Life was based upon some spiritual guarantee that my behavior, my attitude, and my faith affected my circumstances. The prayers of a righteous man avail much, right? Testimonials of people who have had prayers answered supported this notion. We also had all been taught as children that if you were good, you would be rewarded and if you were bad you would be punished. And I had also been told that if you tithe God will bless you. The problem I had was that these principles didn’t seem consistent when applied, like the other parts of the creation. I knew good people who had not had prayers answered and whose misery continued regardless of their strong faith and moral values. I also observed that there was great diversity in misery --it had many variations.
What Pastor Pat did not know was that my divorce left me homeless, penniless, and in deep debt in the tens of thousands of 1980s dollars. Looking back, the entire decade of the 1980s and half of the 1990s was a waste of time, life, and potential productivity. Those years were the worst of my life. I clung to God like a
