The mystery of Godly suffering

There is a place in the faith, where we go through especially difficult situations and yet shockingly we are sincere believers. There is this accompanying bewilderment - why if I have been faithful to You O God, then why me? Job asked the question - why me? We want to know the reason for our suffering. Did God suddenly become an unloving God? The saviour who is sacrificed did He forget His mercy and goodness?

To add to the burden, no one wants to be around a sinking ship. When you are in deep trouble sometimes the whole world senses it - believers and unbelievers alike and they leave you alone. That makes things more difficult. We feel forgotten by everyone, there is no friend which we can count on. We are in the place of deep darkness and searing pain and the shroud of loneliness like thick blackness encompasses us all around. That black solid loneliness can be a greater burden many times than the circumstance. "Why have you forgotten me O God?" We ask with the psalmist. I imagine Joseph in that place in the prison of Egypt.

The bible has a phrase in the new testament - it is "holding to the mystery of the faith". This is a mind boggling phrase if you think about it. A mystery is by definition amorphous. It cannot be held on to. But yet there is a holding element of faith that we are expected to maintain. How to hold on to something that you cannot even define? A mystery. How does one hold on to that? Perhaps what the scripture means is that this is something you don't understand. That the life and walk of faith, trying to figure out God's will can seem like trying to chase the wind. There is a mystery that beckons discovery and pursuit. Without an element of mystery in life, there can be no discovery or pursuit.

But yet there is mystery that is undiscoverable no matter how hard you try, this mystery remains a mystery. Like why did Paul have that thorn to struggle with? Maybe you can't for the life of you figure out why you are in this set of circumstances. There is bewilderment. There it is - the mystery element of the faith in which must we live out. But yet we are supposed to hold on! Hold on to what? Holding on to God's promises and His revealed character. He is a just judge and will make right whatever injustice we experience. If not in this life, then the next. The mystery element has to be left to God, who will one day make that plain reveal its purpose, perhaps on earth, if not in heaven.

My next thought is that whilst in deep trials, the sincere believer ought to trust that God has a purpose for that suffering and that in the end somehow, God will bring it about for our good, even though we can scarcely see any good come out of that very situation, And this very thought - the thought that God can redeem and make good may be the furthest thing from our heart and mind when you are in the midst of all trouble and in deep pain. It is might be all but impossible to do this. Except by God's own grace and mercy which we might not even feel in such a situation which keeps the believer and prompts and allows and empowers the believer to do this. But God can cause us by His unseen hand to believe still that there can be good in it, and that He does have a purpose perhaps on earth or perhaps in heaven, which might be veiled and kept secret for all eternity, for our good.