As I was sharing the story of my cancer experience with some dear brothers in Christ recently, I began with the statement, "I'm realizing that suffering is the norm." It was a thought that occurred to me in the moment, but it's an idea I've expressed before. Now that I am in the midst of unavoidable suffering, it's not just an abstract theological idea. It's a truth I need to help me hold on.

     Believe me, I don't like saying that suffering is the norm, but I don't see any other way to understand it. The fact that we don't usually see it that way only means that we have existed in a cultural and historical bubble where we are mostly safe from violence, plague, famine, persecution, and war. Very few civilizations in history have experienced that.  Because we have grown accustomed to it, suffering confuses us.

     Every worldview has to explain suffering in some way.  Buddhist-influenced worldviews teach that suffering is an illusion and that the goal is to "disillusion" yourself through enlightenment. Many worldviews teach that suffering is something we experience because we deserve it. If we are in pain, we are being punished by God or "fate." Our modern materialist worldview teaches that suffering is a glitch in the system, an aberration that we need to overcome through science or social engineering. Because we (most of us who would be reading this, I mean) are the product of the latter two worldviews, when we experience suffering, we want to know why it is happening. What did I do to deserve this? Why is God allowing this to happen to me? What mistakes or failures in my life led to this?  

     I've asked my fair share of questions like that. Did my dad's job in nuclear systems doom me to cancer decades ago? Did my poor diet contribute to it? If I had visited the doctor more regularly would we have caught this sooner and had a more positive outcome? Is there some sin in my life that God is trying to either punish or bring to light? Those lines of questioning have their time and place, especially when our suffering is the consequence of sinful or unwise choices. However, they can often carry an assumption that suffering shouldn't be happening to us and therefore needs an explanation. Here's the hard truth: Suffering does not need to be explained. Suffering is the norm.

     Writing to Christians under Roman persecution in the first decades after Jesus' resurrection, Peter cautions them: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you" (1 Peter 4:12). In this passage, Peter is referring specifically to suffering that is a consequence of following Jesus (read verses 13-16), which he calls "trials" that test our faith, but Scripture elsewhere reminds us that we should expect to experience the unpleasant discipline of the Lord (Hebrews 12:5-11). "Discipline" in this sense is not punishment, but training. It is the stripping away of what is holding us back from the better things God has in store for us. And what this passage shows us is that discipline is painful, not pleasant (verse 11). It also shows us that such painful experiences are a necessary part of being a child of God. So necessary, in fact, that we should be worried if we are NOT experiencing it (verse 8)!

     Another way in which suffering is the norm is the very experience of mortality. Paul illustrates this as living in a shabby tent while waiting for your real home to be ready. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:2, "in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling." These tents are flimsy, they don't feel comfortable, they don't have the ability to protect us from the elements. Outwardly, we waste away (2 Corinthians 4:16). Suffering is the norm.

     In addition to painful trials, unpleasant discipline, and mortality that causes suffering, there is the bigger context of suffering we experience by living in a world broken by sin. The book of Ecclesiastes describes life "under the sun," meaning life in this world before God renews all things, life in a world under the burden of sin. And the conclusion is that it is foolishness to expect that there will be justice, order, peace, fairness, or comfort in any consistent way. It's so bad that even being able to enjoy your family, your job, and a good meal is a gift of God (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)! In Romans 8:18-25, Paul describes this world as "subjected to futility" and in "bondage to corruption" so that "creation itself groans." As we live in such a world, do we expect to be free of the suffering that causes creation itself to groan with frustration? We groan with creation each time our bodies suffer disease or injury, each time our heart suffers the pain of betrayal, loneliness, or fear. With every loss and every pain, we groan with a broken world. Suffering is the norm.

     Why did I say that this was a truth I need to help me hold on? Because without it, and for as long as I expect to be free of suffering, I will be crushed by the pain and frustration I experience. If I see my suffering as the result of personal failure, it will be unnecessarily compounded by guilt. If I see my suffering as a grave injustice where I've been unfairly singled out, it will be unnecessarily mixed with bitterness. As long as I see my suffering as an abnormality that just needs to be fixed, I will be focused only on "solutions" at the cost of learning to grow and mature the way God intends for me. It is a dangerous notion that we are owed and should expect an earthly life free of suffering. Suffering is the norm.

     Let me add two words to that last sentence that redeem it: "for now." Suffering is the norm... for now. Yes, creation groans, but it is the groans of childbirth (Romans 8:22) as something new is being created. Yes, we are clothed in frail mortality, but we'll one day trade in the tent for a glorious new body (2 Corinthians 5:1). Yes, the Lord disciplines, but that discipline ends when it accomplishes its purpose of making us holy (Hebrews 12:10-11). Yes, there are trials that test our faith, but they are just "for a little while" and will result in something much better (1 Peter 1:4-6). Yes, suffering is the norm under the sun, but we will soon be in a place where there is no need for the sun (Revelation 21:22), and in such a place, all suffering is gone forever.

     Since suffering is the norm (for now), the proper perspective for the Christian need not be "How can I avoid suffering?" but instead, "How can I suffer well?" That deserves a few pages of its own, so I'll address it in my next post.