If, by chance, the "other guy" does end up maimed or dead, there is a realization that your life is not your own. Many combat veterans have referred to themselves as "dead men." This is hard to understand for civilians. What they are trying to make understood is the fact that they should be dead, if not for the actions of another. In living, they have a debt that cannot be repaid. The responsibility that one assumes when another has given his life is too great to be repaid through any act of service. One can only live his life with the vitality, integrity, and honesty demanded to remember and honor such a selfless act.
As a Christian, the parallels in what I learned as a soldier are striking. Over and over, the Bible refers to us as soldiers. In Ephesians 6, we are told to wear the "armor of God." We are told to gird ourselves with truth, to wear the breastplate of righteousness, to don the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. As Christians, we do fight in a war. It is a war fought not for lives, but for the souls of the children of God. And, as in all wars, there is the "other guy" fighting next to you. The difference is, you already owe the debt, because He has already made the sacrifice. Don't try to pay it back with acts of service because it can't be done. Instead, like the combat soldier, try to live your life in such a way as to honor Him.
Alert us
Direct us
Shape us.
To Alert Us
God uses suffering to alert us to the reality of the situation around us at times. One of the things we sometimes need alerting to is the fact that we do live in a world that is in sin.(Romans 5:12) I have come to interpret "a world that is in sin" as a world where death is allowed to exist, where illness, suffering, even demonic attacks and Satan exist.
Another question then arises. If man is so irresponsible as to abuse the free will given him, then why give it? If taking away free will also takes away the ability to make decisions that cause the end of Eden, why allow such a dangerous tool to be given? I believe that we are given free will because we are the one earthly creature made in God's image (Genesis 1:27). It is this free will that is our greatest gift and makes us God's holiest earthly creation (Psalm 8: 3-8). Of what use is one's love if it is forced? The fact that we CHOOSE to love God makes us beloved to him, to the point that he calls us his "children" (Romans 8: 12-17) and his "friends" (John 15: 14-16).
Therefore, suffering is also used to alertus of the consequences of free will. Not all suffering is random. Suffering does not always come in the sudden crash of a tidal wave, or the quiet diagnosis of cancer. At times, it comes from the heartbreak of a cheating spouse, or the violence of a criminal. With free will comes consequences. We must be reminded that there are consequences for every decision, not only on earth, but in Heaven as well.
One of the websites I used as a resource (one of the best ones) also says that suffering is used to alert us that something is wrong with US...that God is chastising us. I do recognize the fact that God mentions chastising His children (Hebrews 12:5-10), but I want to be very careful about misinterpreting this as PUNISHMENT. Too many verses in the Bible describe how God LOVES us. I cannot see a loving parent-figure then enjoying punishing His children arbitrarily. I believe that the chastisement, or punishment, rather comes from God WARNING us aobut the results of our actions, then allowing us to disobey to discover that he was right that nothing good could come of them. I believe he then takes the role of teacher and loving parent, not executor. He expects us to learn from our mistakes and teaches us from our actions. There's an interesting conflict with language here between the translations of the Bible. The King James version uses the word "chastisement" whereas the New International Version uses the word "punishment". I'm no scholar and have no idea what the nuances of the original Hebrew are, but I would guess that the word interprets closer to "chastisement". To chastise implies a conversation, while punishment implies an arbitrary action. It would seem to me that a loving God would be more apt to sit down and point out our wrong-doing, rather than hurting us for it after we've already hurt ourselves.
Another thought...if God thought He was so superior and was capable of arbitrarily punishing us, why would He then inflict a greater amount of pain upon Himself through the torture and sacrifice of His only Son, if not to demonstrate his compassion for us, and to demonstrate that He would not allow us to suffer pain that He Himself would not? Again, this doesn't sound like a wrathful, vengeful, arbitrary Being.
To Direct Us
Many times, we pray for direction, but are too self-centered or occupied to pay attention to the subtle hints and nudges with which God tries to direct us. At those times, he sometimes uses pain to push us in the correct direction FOR WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY PRAYED. For example, one of my most frequent prayers as a young, single male, was for God to lead me to the perfect partner. I was broken-hearted through a couple of relationships where I thought, "This is the one!" However, now that I am happily married, I can look back and understand that God was ANSWERING my prayer by leading me AWAY from my own misjudgement, so that I could be partnered with the woman that HE knew was my soulmate. I wasn't qualified to make that call, but He was.
To Shape Us
The Bible tells us that God shapes us. One metaphor that helps me to understand this concept is the central belief of the Masons. When Solomon's masons were building his famous temple, they had to shape the blocks of granite at a site hundreds of miles away from the temple, then float it downriver to the site of the temple. However, each block was created so precisely that it fit perfectly with the blocks around it when it was placed, leaving an almost invisible seal. The masons believe that God shapes a man the same way those masons shaped each block, molding him perfectly for his place in God's plan. However, God tells us that the Christian life is not easy, and is FILLED with suffering. In order to truly follow Christ, we must be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING and follow Him, just as the disciples did. The metaphor used by the masons makes sense, as a chisel is a very sharp tool used to destroy the rock in order to bring out the beauty. In much the same way, God uses suffering to chisel away the excess, and the resulting product is a work of unparallelled beauty.
I have faith in Christ's teachings, and thus, faith in these things. I don't claim to be a scholar, a preacher, or even a teacher. I do claim to be one relatively weak individual trying his best to understand the Christian walk so that I can follow it, as my Lord has commanded me to do. I am learning that my reaction to suffering before I found Christ was the antithesis of I should react. Before, I complained, whined, and looked at other people's situations, wondering why my situation couldn't be similar or better to theirs. Now, I understand that Job's reaction, to look inward for teaching and to praise God for taking an active role in his life, is the correct reaction. I don't believe Job was doing cartwheels and cheers for the afflictions poured on him, but I believe he never lost sight of the fact that God Himself was taking an interest in him during his suffering. Whether God is shaping us, whether He is answering a prayer, or whether we are simply suffering the results of our own actions and being reminded of it, we should continue to praise God's name when we suffer, and not be a "fair-weather" Christian.