This is NOT a complete outline. Some of this stuff might not make sense in this context. These are just PIECES of the outline and study that I underlined and thought were good!
The Redeemer...
He seeks the outcast as his family.
"With goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack??- A.W. Tozer
He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. Job 37:11-13
Possible Questions to Ask in the Middle of Suffering...
- What areas of my faith are being refined through this suffering?
- What is God revealing about Himself through this suffering?
- How can I rely on God more as a result of my suffering?
- What sin(s) do I need to repent of and renounce as a result of my suffering?
- How can this suffering drive me to find deeper reward in God?
Confidence Amidst Suffering...Psalm 27
Do we find God useful for our circumstances, or do we find Him glorious regardless of circumstances?
Suffering drives us to God's Word.
To learn it.
To believe it.
To obey it.
To love it.
"I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the Word of God as now [in prison]. The Scriptures that I saw nothing in before are made in this place to shine upon me. Jesus Christ also was never in before are made in this place to shine upon me. Jesus Christ also was never more real and apparent than now. Here I have seen him and felt him indeed. ... I have seen such thing here that I am persuaded I shall never while in this world be able to express. ... Being very tender to me, God hath not suffered me to be molested, but would with one scripture and another strengthen me against all; insomuch that I have often said, were it lawful I could pray for greater trouble for the greater comfort's sake." John Bunyan
Remember my afflictions and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to and end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:19-24
"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust- there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of this steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. Lamentations 3:25:33
"When we see this love at work through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God is really like that. But everything in the Word and in experience shows us that He is. He will give man the tress of the forest and the iron in the ground. Then He will give to man the brains to make an axe from the iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross. He will give man the ability to make a hammer and nails, and when man has the cross and the hammer and the nails, the Lord will allow man to take hold of Him and bring Him to that cross, and in doing so will take the sins of man upon Himself and make it possible for those who have despised and rejected Him to come unto Him and know the joy of sins removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and eternal life, and to enter in the prospect of the hope of glory with Him forever. This is even our God, and there is none like unto Him." Donald Grey Barnhouse
God's capacity to forgive is greater than our capacity to sin.
God uses painful experiences to accomplish His sovereign purposes.
God is our satisfaction.
God is our strength.
God is our victory!
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength, he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19
Sin is too subtle in us.
Sin is too seductive to us.
Sin is too strong for us.
We are desperate for a Savior!
The problem of evil and suffering in the world is ultimately a problem with people's heart.
Only Jesus can change the hearts of evil people.
Therefore, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus is the foremost fundamental, necessary, nonnegotiable way to address evil and suffering in the world.
THE GOSPEL IS THE ANSWER.
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