Suffering: Permissible Suffocation

My wife has said for many years, “I am certain that the older I get – the less I know.” I cannot tell you how often those words have rung my bell!

Permissible Suffocation

REFLECTING ON MY LESSONS ON BIBLICAL JOB

To derail the temptation for readers to use the “Permissible Suffocation” as some spiritual formula to deliver them from potentially assigned circumstances of our Lord, I implore you to read this chapter before using the prayers and content within this book. The book you are about to read was birthed through the lessons contained within this chapter.

My wife has said for many years, “I am certain that the older I get – the less I know.”  I cannot tell you how many times those words have rung my bell! I have been a born-again indwelt Christian since I was 16. I have fought my way through the jungle of deception and worldly fables for over 50 years, and I still ask questions like:

• How could a righteous God allow such an evil world? 

• How could a loving God allow the enemy to torture His children with despair and emotional suffocation? 

• Why do righteous people suffer when they diligently work to seek His divine will? 

• Why does God allow the ungodly to prosper? 

• My utmost favorite is: are adversity and affliction signs that a suffering Christian has unconfessed sin?

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After discipling others in the message of the Exchanged Life (Not I, but Christ: Galatians 2:20) for 30+ years, I have discovered something rather simple but profound. Knowing the Exchanged Life does not rid us of suffering but could invite it all the more. That leaves us with a question; ”Why should we appeal to God to relieve us of suffering?”  That is why I believe this eBook needs to be read.

MY SUFFERING

Like many (if not most) Christians, I have suffered my measurement of troubles – the type of troubles that bring heartache, physical challenges, and emotional ramifications. The most difficult suffering has been the constant unmerciful criticism from fellow Body members. When fronted with a near-terminal ailment, some Christians dared to conclude that there must be some sin in my life. They pushed and peddled the worldly thought that all suffering is always the result of sin; therefore, simplistically touting that if I (we) repent of this “unknown sin,” the momentary light affliction would somehow disappear. Even though we know the error of this dogmatism, we fall into this dark place of treating repentance like “a pill” – “a pill” that will somehow deliver us from our moments of despair and emotional suffocation. 

When is the last time you had a mounting of perpetual circumstances thrown in your face at such a rate that you frequently felt you couldn’t surface long enough to take a deep breath?

The feeling of suffocation, in my opinion, is one of the worst kinds of suffering. Several years ago, when I first contracted an infection in my heart that ultimately led to heart failure, I had severe problems with my breathing. At first, we thought it was from a head cold. The doctor gave me medication to fight the viral infection. It only made things worst. Next in line was the thought my “childhood asthma” was returning. Treatment was applied, which of course, made it worse. It was adding to the liquid building up in my lungs. Then it got to the point that I could only lay back, forget laying down, for several minutes at a time. Due to only getting minimal sleep a day, they thought I was developing sleep apnea. In reality, I was suffocating.

When I was admitted to the ER, one lung was filled, and the second was at its “half full” mark. I cannot tell you the horrid feelings this suffocation brought on. In fact, at one point in the ER, they were frantically working to “bring me back.”

Once arresting the crisis, I was placed in a care unit to begin my healing process. While there, I was visited by various “friends” and family. Some visitors came to confess their sins of offense against me, they left, and I never heard from them again. Others came to visit to offer true and respectable comfort. Then, some came as representatives of a “group of friends” to confront me about the “sin” in my life. One “old friend” in particular asked if I thought God was putting this on me due to some sin in my life.

Now, I am a firm believer in declaring that afflictions sometimes come from God to purify us and that this, in no way, indicates that God is unloving. It is only His way of leading us back to a dependent “talk and walk” relationship with Himself - like a father would discipline a child. Even though I know that suffering instructs us in righteousness and prevents us from sinning, it doesn’t make the journey easier. It puts us in the position of determining if we will question God’s sovereignty or accuse Him of hurting His children. This leads to the biggest question: Will we humbly submit ourselves to God’s will? 

I don’t know about you, but I find God’s will sometimes quite painful. I am NOT saying He doesn’t provide comfort, healing, and guidance, but I am saying that the walk, for the most part, is sometimes daunting. To be straightforward, I find that God does not choose to answer most of my penetrating questions. Instead, He overwhelms me with a panoramic view of His creative power and perfect Divine wisdom. I usually get reprimanded for attempting to figure out the “why” in my pain and suffering. If you want to talk about sin, this is the sin that gets me in trouble the most. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked away from a conversation with God where I felt humbled and foolish for implying that God owes me some explanation. Since I will never be big enough to canvas my world, how would I ever presume to tell God how to manage His sovereignty?

I think most indwelt Christians have embraced the fact that Jesus shed His blood to deliver us from our sins, but how many of us have embraced the fullness of His Holy plan? Now, think about it – if we exchange our lives for Him, doesn’t it mean that in the Exchange comes the commission to be willing to share in the sufferings of Jesus? 

“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”  (2 Timothy 2:3)

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17).

“For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).

If you are like most of us fair-weathered Christians, you don’t mind the positive attributes of Christ in the great Exchange; but elements that are not so positive, like the “fellowship of His sufferings,” well – that is a different story.

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:8-11).

PAIN & SUFFERING – NOT ME

Was there ever a time in your Christian life when you could say that you were righteous in most of your ways while at the same time experiencing little affliction? I have many fond memories of those days…then came God’s “permissible affliction.”  Even though I have wrestled with the “theology” of the purpose of “bad things happening to good people,” in my older years, I have come to understand that Satan is the force behind all the calamities that come upon us. Remember that I didn’t say “reason” but the “force.” I believe this is one of THE most important elements for Christians to understand and believe.

When I prayed the Selfer’s Prayer back in 1979, I thought Exchanging my life for His would minimally reduce my pain and suffering, but little did I expect that it would offer me ALL THE MORE. Right around that same time, in my childlike ignorance, I asked God to grant me half the measurement of wisdom and understanding He gave Solomon, primarily because I “felt” so stupid. After several years of exchanging suffering for more pain, the Lord led me to this passage:

“Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain” (Ecclesiastes 1:18).

At first, this passage raised more questions than it answered. From what I have learned from the Holy Scriptures, Satan needs permission from the Father to do his afflictions.   

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.’ The LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’ Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.’ Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:6-12).

There are many theological elements contained within this passage. One that tends to glare at me the most is “permissible affliction.”  This passage reveals that Satan works to trap and snare God’s people with the deception that it is God’s fault and He is “out to get us.”

Several other significant doctrinal issues present themselves here. First, we find that Satan had to approach God and get in line with the rest of the “sons of God” – angels. Once Satan was at the bench of God, the two of them had this unique dialogue. God first asked Satan where he came from. It suggested that God didn’t know where Satan was or what he was doing. The Truth of the matter is that God knew exactly who he was and what he was up to. By proof of most of His dialogues, God reveals the prerogative of being the One who asks the questions – not man or spiritual beings. Next, we see God bringing up the opportunity to persecute Job before Satan could open his mouth to suggest it (v. 8).   

It’s almost like God set the stage for prospering Job to offer Satan this opportunity. Did God desire to bring hurt and destruction upon His beloved servant? Did God have this hidden curiosity to test Job to see if he would be attacked, tempted, drawn into sin, or trapped by the devil?

No – He was confident in his investment in Job up to this point in His Divine design. God knew there was none like Job on the face of the earth. Since God knows and watches every thought and footprint of man, He knew that no man has been able to withstand a full-on attack from Satan since the days of Noah. He had confidence in this!

I believe Satan completely understood the level of character Job radiated. He knew he couldn’t charge Job with any sin because he (Satan) was the author of it. Just as God knew He was confident in Job’s obedience to the Word, Satan knew Job’s confidence in disobeying Satan’s words. We have a great standoff between God's confidence and Satan's confidence.   

Does Job fear God for nothing?

What is up with this satanic statement of “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (v. 9). The implication here is that Satan thinks Job “fears” God, NOT because of love, but because of the perception that God spoils him with riches, healthy children, and the prosperity assigned. He strongly believed that Job would “curse God” and be done with Him if he had these “blessings” or luxuries taken away from him, proving that Job’s fear was outward and hypocritical.   Satan knows how man’s flesh functions – he obeys to get it. After all, Satan developed the demonic reward system of “doing to get.”  The bottom line: Satan was convinced that Job was afraid of being punished by God if he didn’t “jump through the hoops” God set before him.

The second and less primal issue Satan throws God’s way is the issue of protection. Satan now tempts God with the twisted Truth that Job is righteous because he lives in a bubble of protection, a shield that God formed around him. The truth is that we can’t function righteously without the almighty protection of God, but Satan is hinging Job’s life upon this one principle. God did ‘border’ Job’s life, and all that was entrusted to him with angels (hedge) to encamp about him. This passage shows that Satan is a big-pouty bully who likes picking on the little guy. He says that if Job didn’t have a big brother protecting him, Job would lose the fight. Well, duh! Satan never picks on someone his own size, although a day is coming when he picks a fight with SOMEONE who is truly going to “clean his clock.”  Typical bully – always thinking he is “the man,” all the while suffering from “little man syndrome.”  Hmm – maybe that is what this is all about.

Allow me to do some immediacy here. Satan believes that Job breaths freely because he is in the protective bubble that God provided for him. Satan suggests having God remove this bubble and allowing him to suffocate Job through hellish and demonic circumstances; then, Job will surely curse God to His face. The second point of immediacy is that Satan knows he can’t do a blasted thing without God “putting forth His hand and touching all that he has.”  It is what we call in counseling a covert confession of impotence. Satan NEVER comes out and openly admits he is impotent but manipulates so that a covert confession spills out. This is a classic way of confession for bullies.

The Lord’s response to this not-so-clever form of manipulation, which appeared in Satan’s favor, is this. With God saying, “Behold, all that he has (externally) is in your power (strength), only do not put forth your hand on him” (v. 12, parentheses mine), sends him off most assuredly living out his deception. It always amazes me how God will not dialogue, prove, or interact with Satan (or man) over their manipulative and stupid ways.   He gives to man and beast the appearance of “having their way” for them to learn from the consequences of those ways. What a loving and respectful God we have.

The “Godological” statement here is critical for believers to see and embrace. God is not angry and displeased with Job, nor does He want to get some thrill out of hurting him, nor is He gratifying Satan, but He does want Satan to face the doom of his deception once again, while He (God) ultimately enjoys more glory. The truest form of stupidity is “picking a fight” with someone with complete control over the universe. This passage shows us how stupid Satan is. Secondly, it shows us that when “bad things” happen to good people, it does not mean that God is angry, disappointed, or “out to get us.”   God has a thing about purifying the Bride of Christ for His Son while rubbing Satan’s face in his confusion. These are the two primary reasons for the existence of God’s creation – to gain a Bride for His beloved Son and provide a place of torment and punishment for Satan. Humans can deluge their minds for other reasons, but these are simple facts.

“Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:12).

With this, the Lord sends a restrained Satan off to accomplish the mission of God, with Satan thinking it is all about his mission. That is the beauty of this story; God proves the stupidity that deception forms when mixed with pride.

Satan is nothing but a tool God uses to advance His Kingdom. Why doesn’t Satan figure this out? Simply because sin makes him stupid.   Satan’s limited authority isn’t even his – it belongs to God. All authority is owned by the One who imparts it. 

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Rom 13:1).

Any human or spiritual being who stretches their imagination to think they have ownership of anything, particularly authority, is suffering from the same deception of Satan himself. Any authority managed is authority assigned. Therefore, God is in sovereign charge of everything, including those who think they are in charge of anything.

The believer’s emotions must be exchanged just like our mind and will. God has blessed us with the positive beliefs of Christ Himself, love, joy, cheerfulness, excitement, kindness, peace, and many others. Many of us don’t realize that when we make this great Exchange, we also inherit His beliefs and responses: sorrow, grief, misery, moaning, sadness, confusion – for God only knows how long this list is. It is on the back side of humanity’s emotive beliefs that Satan feeds into. If He, our Lord and Savior, suffered such affliction, then we should also be willing to fellowship in those same sufferings in our Exchange. We should be willing to exchange our sufferings for more of His pain. Ouch – now that is the reality of our Exchange that most believers avoid!

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