Living in Narnia

Saturday, April 26, 2003

Finally, my first weekend out of OCS. Man it's been tough; I've seen tougher training these three weeks than the whole of BMT. I've seen people really suffer under their instructors, and this is but the beginning; the entire course is 10 months long, and just thinking about it daunts me. I don't know why but somehow God keeps drawing my thoughts back to this thing about suffering. About facing difficulties and troubles that we have no idea why we face. People like to ask, if our God is so good, then why do people face suffering in their lives? Why is there so much pain in the world? Why does God let us suffer, or even want us to suffer?

Paul offers a stunning new view of what our attitude towards suffering should be. "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also..." Romans 5:3. All of us have faced difficulties and suffering in our lives to various extents. But the more I've thought about it, the more I've realised that there are great reasons why Paul advocates this attitude, and that adopting this attitude practically in our lives can work wonders.

Firstly, suffering lays bare the condition of our hearts. "And thou shalt remember how the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart." Deuteronomy 8:2. In peace time it is easy for a soldier to be brave, or pretend to be brave, because he knows that nothing is going to happen to him. You should see the way the officer cadets run and charge during missions; most people call it "garang". But real war separates the pretenders and those who are truly brave; in times of suffering, there can be no pretending. When all is stripped away, and all that we pride ourselves on is gone, we will see our true attitude towards God.

Secondly, suffering draws us closer to God, far closer than we can ever get in times of joy. Human nature is such; it is very difficult for us to deepen our trust in God, in fact in anything, unless we have gone through thick and thin with it. When life is smooth sailing, we may grow spiritually in many other areas, but it is very difficult for us to deepen our trust in Him, because there isn't anything to trust Him about! Let's not kid ourselves; we all tend to take God for granted, consciously or subconsciously, when times are good. It's in our nature. But when the chips are down, we have no choice but to trust Him- it sounds bad on the surface, but if you think about it, it is a way to overcome our own human tendency to stray. Imagine yourself as a sailor on a ship. When all is smooth sailing, and there isn't the slightest trace of a cloud on the horizon, the captain wouldn't have much to do. He could sit in his comfortable chair and drink coffee, perhaps occasionally touching the steering wheel- things you could very well do yourself. But in the midst of a raging tempest, or in the middle of a minefield, seeing your own captain calmly steering your ship clear of every danger, every menace, every toss and turn, would build an immeasurable degree of trust in him. I found this quote in a military article- "being in wartime brought a camaraderie unimaginable in peacetime." Few bonds on earth are as strong as the bond between soldiers in war- they depend on each other for their very lives. So it is with Jesus- when our lives depend on Him and not what we have, we will be closer to Him than ever, bearing in mind that Jesus is a truer friend than any man or soldier can ever be.

Thirdly, suffering teaches us to really appreciate what we have and be grateful. We seldom appreciate what we have until they are taken away. I never appreciated my freedom, my family and my friends so much until I was confined five days a week in a camp miles away from civilisation. I never appreciated my room so much until I didn't have one. I never appreciated being able to sit in my chair and play my guitar until I didn't have a chair or a guitar. The simple things of life became so much more precious and meaningful once you have suffered. I realise that our contentment in life doesn't depend on the material things that we have, but on our attitude towards these things. And suffering helps to put things in perspective- we begin to see everything we have as blessings from God, and as a consequence we are humbled and thankful. And so, even though nothing has changed in our lives, we find much more joy there than ever before.

Fourthly, suffering brings out strengths in us that we never known were there before- endurance, determination, perseverance. It makes us stronger. "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:7. Airplane wings and parts are put through the most vigorous tests, through stresses far beyond those that they would normally encounter, before they are put into use. Similarly, we will never know how strong our faith can be until it has been put through the toughest of tests. And it doesn't stop there. We will never be able to help and encourage others until our faith is strong. "Blessed be God... who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 1 Corinthians 1:4. When we have discovered that faith deep within us, we can use it encourage one another, and testify of God's sustaining grace. If someone was trying to comfort you while you having say, relationship problems, it would definitely help if that person had pulled through the same things before.

Fifthly, suffering helps us to take our spiritual lives more seriously. The older generations criticise youths today for being politically apathetic and unwilling to suffer or put in effort for the country. But I believe that youths cannot be blamed fully because they have not suffered the things that the older generations have; they do not understand how difficult and important it is to build the nation. I believe it is the same with us- unless we have suffered in our lives, we will not fully understand how crucial our spiritual lives are, how important it is to depend on God in our lives. Romans 5:3 goes on to say, "...knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience...." Once we have experienced what it is like to suffer without God, and once we have experienced God bringing us out of our suffering, we will definitely take our spiritual lives more seriously.

Which leads me on to my next point- when time and time again, God carries us out of our struggles, we begin to catch a glimpse of the time when all suffering will finally be over. Philosophers have said that misery is man's lot. Perhaps we don't see it, sheltered here in Singapore, but a glance around the world will tell us that this is true. Starvation, war and disease are problems no closer to being solved than they were decades ago. But even in our own lives we are bound to suffer. Suffering prepares our hearts for the time when "the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Revelation 7:17. In a more down-to-earth context, those army boys who have experienced the joy of booking out will inevitably catch a glimpse of the joy of ORD. Climbers on Mount Kinabalu always set off on the last stretch very early in the morning so as to reach the peak in time for sunrise. Imagine standing above the clouds, shrouded in cold and darkness, and then seeing a flash of light on the horizon. Your heart begins to race, this is what you have been waiting for all the while. The flash broadens into a ray, then into a beam, and all this while your heart is racing faster and faster, till the sun bursts out in full glory revealing the awesome view all around. For that moment, that precious moment, that unforgettable moment, even though you have climbed till your feet are sore, and you know you will have to climb back down, you feel that it has all been worth it. Suffering prepares our hearts for that day, when we will stand before the Lord, and run to Him like a child to His mother, with open arms. People have made fun of the ACS motto- The Best Is Yet To Be- saying that ACS will never achieve its best. But they have gravely misunderstood the true meaning of the motto, taken from Robert Browning's Rabbi Ben Ezra - Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made. It is talking about Heaven. And Heaven is different from the top of Mount Kinabalu or any other place in the world. Heaven is eternal.

I mention this next point last because I believe that in all things, we must always look back to Jesus, our supreme example and teacher. Suffering gives us a glimpse of what Jesus Himself endured when He was here on earth. Earlier this week we had a two day field camp, which culminated in a massive casualty evacuation exercise involving carrying someone on a stretcher for a few kilometres. It is truly painful. At the point when the stretcher was pressing down heavily on my shoulder and I felt that pain, I thought, imagine what Jesus must have felt, carrying that gigantic wooden cross, full of splinters, all by Himself, with his back already lacerated by whips. And that brought me to a deeper understanding of the tremendous suffering that Jesus went through, all for us, and how much He loves us. Perhaps sometimes we take Jesus for granted, or have trouble really loving Him, because we do not comprehend the enormity of the price He paid for us. Paul wished that the Ephesians "may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:18-19. And what was the saints' response when they comprehended? Saint Peter wrote, "...because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps..." 1 Peter 2:21

A last word- Jesus' suffering was not the end of the story. After three days He rose again, and now He is crowned in glory. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53: 4-5. If you are reading this and you are going through a period of struggle or suffering, or if you encounter such things in the future, remember this- that God will bring us out of every struggle, no matter how big or small. To quote from Les Miserables, "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." And when the light of the Lord dawns upon us, I assure you, it will be magnificent.