Making Sense Out of Suffering

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Welcome to the masculine journey worse. The doing this for our weekly radio show. If your first time listener. We especially welcome you and I just want to tell you upfront that if you are just starting to listen to us. If you go on our website at masculine journey you.work. We have podcasts going back probably years at least and you can catch up on any of our shows that we've done in the past. We know we have a lot of podcast listeners of free to do that. You can also find us on Facebook so welcome and again today were going to first of all, I got Andy and Jim and we got the Sam on the phone because Sam is a traveling man most days now Sam, are you there American airmen.

Yes sir hear you fine. Find it and that can you hear me now is not that gas which competences thing it I have to make a little joke at the outset because of portable organ to talk about is not to be easy for me and I can tell you that straight up. So what is going to get to it right now were going to talk about making sense out of suffering and the reason why were going to talk about that at least one of the reasons is the recent loss of my younger sister Lisa.

She passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, I got a call that we never want to get about two weeks ago yesterday from a mom on Friday night saying that she had been found unconscious and unresponsive in their home in Florida.

Her husband Tracy's home. She was taken. I see you. The doctor told us last Thursday that she would not survive because of the extensive chemical brain damage because there was no way of knowing how long she was unconscious so on were saddened by this loss. We are my sister had a lot of health issues were trying to find comfort in the fact of knowing that she knew Jesus Christ and she is at rest in peace now, but that doesn't make it any easier. Not going through a every emotion imaginable. As I'm sure you guys anyone has had this kind of a loss. I have no idea and I told my dad down there have no idea what that feels like as I looked over there pictured if that was my daughter. My heart was breaking. So on. That's kind of what were doing and God told me that we needed to talk about this and also he told me that there be at least one person out there listening today it's either going through this right now her hand is whether you're male or female South Samberg to get into a clip right off the bat from the movie patch Adams we've used this before. I think it's been a little while and if you could help us set that up. That would be great yeah I will be forwarded a thinker like to point out the suffering comes in many, many form right and the questions were to talk today and suffering and applied in many many different situation and I think that that's important to know that what I'm talking specifically about the loss of a loved one, but it could be any other thing that causes suffering. Question God are toward absolute this clip is from patch Adams and being what happened so far as Robin Williams replaced patch Adams lost his girlfriend. As far as she got murdered and she got murdered by somebody they were trying to give care to. They had been running a hospital and outside of the normal medical institution, and they been helping people that kinda lost in the system and one of these people have mental illness and ended up killing his girlfriend in here in the ceiling of Robin Williams really talking directly to God.

In the movie. That's what he's doing these questions and things of God and at the end there is a little bit of a thing where God answers them with the butterfly that will talk about that when you come back to work now you want me both know you stop to look at the man man suffers an enormous amounts of pain and I should have just a few more brainstorming sessions by creation resting on the seventh day. Maybe you should've spent that compassion no say in that scene continues along in the movie that particular clip and tell us what happened there.

After having that conversation God conversation and is really question God is just heard and then out of the corners are the butterfly come that and it was a special something to him and his girlfriend that reminded him that God is there that there's life and it was an answer to what he was saying through something that meant something to him already and you ever been there before and since Sam was talking about, there's different kinds of stuff questioning God made you, or even getting a little angry about something that's happened just don't understand.

Yeah man, no stores lose all level and my dad was probably the closest thing and not like your sister. We went through a lot of medical problems and it was somewhat of a relief when he but there was there was those times, but that's probably not the biggest one. Probably the biggest one where I really struggle with why God was explained by separation wall. My wife and you go through life a lot and I think we all adapt this kind of Christian philosophy of title, God got were good arm. You know when I get saved my life's good work there. Things are going to happen the right way, there's gonna be a lot of suffering is not to be a lot to get mad at Maddie God with and if I get that you know really the only person if I if things don't go right. It's really my blame blame myself that I didn't do something right.

There's always a cause and effect, and I'm always the one that is not that simple mean story Job I go back to a lot of times he experienced the incredible amount of suffering and that when you know you have a lot of people trying to make sense of it and really there was no sense to be made evident.

Ultimately God showed that he had compassion for him and he spoke through all those things when man was trying to figure it out but it has friends really want a lot of help lately sure work that was probably not the example that we want to follow if as a counselor these days. Speaking of which, Jim, you're a your pastor type you have some background in counseling from your training.

We were talking about that before the show. People dealing with grief and suffering and as we talk to that rusting a segue into the second clips of set that up. But I me, would you say would you do something like this is happened. The biggest thing and this is as we talked about earlier before the show we want to be like Job's friends when I started and it's just be there. There's not some magic formula for saying it and wait and everybody responds to grief differently and you really have to listen and listening is maybe the greatest form of love for us when we are with others that we are putting all our attention on them. Yeah, semaphore set up the second clips that the burning question that people ask and I hear a lot of times now in in the Christian community is sitting a lot of bad things happen to good people. I think Andy was kind of getting it that a little bit while ago.

I can say that my family is a perfect family or anyone out there has a perfect family or my sister did everything right, but it sometimes it just seems to be hard to understand why why did this happen earlier.

The thing that I would look at, I guess, is that we live in a fallen world, God's activity here but we live in a fallen world with people that make decisions outside of God. Just make decisions outside of what you would've wanted them to do right and end with every decision, good or bad. There there is consequences. You know, and I look back at losing my mom and how hard it was for me to lose and I love her dearly. A big part of why she went when she did was she smoked for 30 years to develop COPD damage could've died at the same time I don't know but I do know that was a contributing factor.

There was a direct result of her decision yeah you know or maybe decisions of others.

You can have a drunk driver that crosses the lane people innocently was the decision of another that affected those people that make sense yeah just recently I was I was on YouTube.

One night, and I came across an old video of the today show on the morning of 9/11 and obviously the whole country was in shock, if not the whole world and you're asking those questions.

Why does this happen Jim. I mean, what played out was that there was evil at work and it was it working these guys they trained and got on these planes and killed all these people along with themselves. It speaks to what Sam is talking about in a fallen world those people to died on this planes were innocent in terms of dying that way. I mean they really did nothing to deserve that, but it was it was evil.

It was fallen world stuff used trigger word for me.

Do you really want what you deserve, we all deserve death, but we have a Savior that died for us. The stuff that happens in this world to us.

Sam tried a lot of it is consequences of our actions or the actions or others. Some of it's not explainable and we have to develop our relationship with God the point where it's not. I do a good thing and I get a good thing I do a bad thing. I get a bad thing that's him that's the childhood stage, but when we get to the point of being married to the Lamb where we trust him.

Then we don't have to try to figure out patch Adams said something. The fact that let's look at this logically. Don't because I will drive you crazy logic in that we do have this. A clip from the shack coming up in Jensen set that up course after break listening to the management, the masculine journey show here were glad that you joined us were talking about the making sense out of suffering.

Today will be back shortly. Remember we have a boot camp coming up in November. Looking forward to having you there find that information on the website as well. Is this the same mask my son Eli talked about ways you can help support the ministry clearly smiled@amazon.com as informational website that Facebook.com where you can click the donate button tweaking it masculine day once again working mail something PO Box 552 7285 Sam this November's Boot Camp can literally change a lot of man's life. I talked a lot of men there saying they say they don't know what the places in the grand scheme of things they don't know how to behave as Christian men. God designed us for freedom and is coming up at this Boot Camp.

It is good Alaska engineering.org to register now just $169 early Bird pricing for four amazing days. Masculine journey.org and register and saying they name back to the masculine journey you show my Dennis along with Andy and Jim and we have Sam on the phone with his guys. That's a song from the contemporary Christian group the knee on things I love about their lead singers that he always has been transparent what's going on in his life and he's talking about the fact that that you how can I get up and sing and give people hope when I'm not feeling that I can identify with that link I went back on the radio and you know I've I've played that song just about every day Monday through Friday and here it and never meant more to me than it did a few days ago when I heard it because this is finding hope and trust and love in the midst of our suffering that we can. We don't have to have a mask up in front that acts like everything's okay fine guys. I could tell you I'm not fine right now and there people out there that going through something you're going through right now and they're not fine in the trying to make sense out of it, were glad you joined us for that you were just going to transition into this next clip from the shack in it.

I have to say one thing six days before I got this phone call and Sam had talked about watching this movie so I rented the DVD not knowing how significant it would be for me to find peace.

When this happened with my sister so we got a clip you want to set that up force help.

This is the father of a murdered girl who's been dealing with grief. And that is what were talking about, and he's been angry at his guilt is felt guilt over his complacency and ignoring her during the time she was kidnapped he's now feeling anger towards God and in this wonderful segment. He is talking to the personification of wisdom and that's probably enough set up. This is a hurting man talking to wisdom's. I would twisted him into monster legacy has broken his go all the way back to God can't fault motion, so the plan when is it so easy for you to judge God. You must choose one of the children to spend attendance and having the other will go to hell. Andy that's the pretty harsh stuff there. We know we you have a daughter I have a dog daughters children. We can certainly feel this get this man's pain, but where were we going in this clip how she making sense out of this for him right.

We all went the justice commandment.

You know evidently wants and is trying to think wisdom is really trying to show just, you know there's there's byproduct this of of sin is going to be hurt to people but there's a reason for it came through the original fall were all affected by it and obviously it all points to the Savior and in the drawing us closer and and really you know when you get to it mean his pain when you look at the whole story of the shack. It ended up being a reconciliation with him and God probably wouldn't have happened without that the main pain. I mean that what he went through or what it positioned him to be open to God that he had to have some enlightenment through those came along to help. But I guess that's what it is we're all gonna deal with this. We all mean we all week God made it very clear in the Bible were going to deal with suffering and pain all his servants did you there was none missing from it, but we walk around in the day. Think everybody should be happy and everything's okay all the time were all good and it's not that way and it's our job is as his creatures to really look to try to find out what's in those things those times of suffering and pain and and if we can really rely on trust on trust him during that and Sam in the church today and I'm not here to put down.

The church were all part of it and maybe even especially for men. We want to hold at that mask and say everything's fine, and be fine and be okay. We we we we had those experiences like Andy's talking about. I remember attending a church and it was like if you weren't smiling, someone would ask you why my words not smiling and what I wanted to say and eventually said was that you know my work kinda sucks right now I don't have a whole lot to smile, to me that's real what your take on that but I think that we do need to be up and take as Christian yeah okay to say this politely with people you don't really know that well you know things are good or whatever but when you really have people to get close to and you need to find other Christians that you're close to you to be able to share that then that if you don't get a foothold in you don't have brothers or sisters to call you out on it now.

Find a way back to God in this movie of the shack there was with his name Plato husband him my girl yeah you know it was trying to get him back. There was a brother that was trying to get them back is like getting back now. Ultimately you need to make that decision without that core of other Christians. It makes it very difficult.

The enemy knows that he wants to isolate you nicely and not bondage so we can getting at. Ultimately did some good can come from the suffering we got last clip is from the movie collateral beauty that I just watched this past weekend. I don't know why I was searching for something to do and I ended up on the red box in bringing this movie will Smith played a character sit very successful advertising executive and agency partner in New York and his daughter died. Think of a rare form of cancer, something she was on that six years old say he ends up isolating and checking out from the world for like a two-year period, and a lot of different things happen.

One of the things that happens is he writes letters to believe it was love, death, and time and basically reams them all for everything that's going on, but he meets this woman in a support group for people that lost loved ones. Jim told me before the shots try to figure this out. That actually ends up being his wife and she speaks of something that trying to wrap our arms around here will let you listen to the clip and then see if we can make sense out of this is anywhere to see and strand, my mother's side of 96 and she asked me to lose his.

She casually says say now she just didn't get it was something stated here is connection to it was the same as collateral. In stop it. There is were running a little short on time and I will make sure that we deal with this and that we talked about before the show that there's a Scripture that talks about bringing beauty from ashes and I came across this quote is been dealing with the loss of my sister. This is their places in the human heart, which do not yet exist in into them inner suffering that they may have existence. Jim, I'm wondering if that's kind of what this woman was getting at with collateral beauty. I mean it that that wasn't coming from.

From the standpoint of God. In the movie but I saw it that way that something good could come out of it. It sounds like there were places in her heart that became a lot maybe work before the one thing that really hits me there this coming is back to patch Adams. He's asking God why skip compassion. Can we have compassion.

True compassion for someone if we haven't been through pain of the level that will let us love them, and are not very lovable hungry heart electron because I was very little time.

I was very lovable.

When I got here today admitted that because my motions are all of the play Sammy closing thought anything that I got a hard and it got a trust as part of good for me and get time degrees and in turn, thank you so much for listening today. Again, go to mass and journey radio.org you can listen to our podcast show again posted in check out of boot camp coming up in November. So glad you joined us today. May God be with you to meet again