"God chooses some of His children to suffer for reasons of His own, entirely apart from sin in their lives, even with no apparent constructive purpose; although these who pass through such suffering do indeed grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord."
"And when they have passed through the fires which His love has planned for them, He brings them to the place of triumph and rewards them with eternal glory because they have won honors for Him."
"I believe the Bible reveals that God chooses some people to suffer intensely, and the choice of these heroes of pain is made in two ways but with one object. God's object is to demonstrate to the invisible world, and especially to Satan, that He can hold the allegiance of those who have become His children through faith in Christ Jesus, and that nothing can swerve them from confidence and trust in Him, even though the enemy brings his heaviest artillery to bear. The choice is made sometimes at at the nomination of God, sometimes at the nomination of Satan. This conclusion is based on the Biblical teaching that God is not the Father of all men. The Bible teaches that all men are children of wrath and disobedience, and that only a few become children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. These are translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. This present world system is organized by Satan, and every part of our civilization is Satanic. Here and there a few fields have been faintly perfumed by the presence of Christians, but we must accept the verdict of God's Word that "the whole world lieth in the lap of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). In every civilization and stratum of society, God has His own who live in opposition to the principles which govern the surrounding fallen world."
"The outstanding example of suffering on earth inflicted for its effect in Heaven is the story of Job. Briefly, the outline of the conflict is as follows: When Satan came into the courts of God to report, as he must do at intervals, God pointed out to him a man whose walk and ways were in righteousness and holiness and whose trust was in God alone. Though in the midst of Satan's world, Job was giving no allegiance to him. This was a mouthful of dust for the Devil, who cried out: "Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?" (Job 1:10)."
"Incidentally, that is one of my favorite Bible verses, because Satan admits that the power of God which surrounds all of us who trust Him is so effective that no event can touch us unless God lowers the hedge and permits it. Our God, who guides the fish through the sea, can order the incidents of history and details of circumstance to fit the pattern of life which He had designed for His redeemed children. All will happen exactly according to the plan of God."
"To the charge that Job was faithful because God protected him and blessed him with great possessions, the divine reply was given that the hedge would be lowered to permit Satan to touch the family and property of Job, but he must not touch Job himself. Immediately the Devil goes into action. Storms rage, an army marches, bandits move from the lair, lightening falls from the sky. The houses and barns of Job are destroyed, his property ravaged, his children are killed. Only three servants escape to bring the news to Job. It should be noted that these events were caused by the Devil, even though permitted by God. We read in the second epistle to Timothy that Satan can do as he pleases to all who have not been born again (2 Timothy 2:26), and he uses the forces of nature for his ends. Let those who are not Christians realize that the enemy of souls is the cause of their misery. The Christian knows that when life strikes a blow the enemy means it for evil but God intends it for good."
"Job received the news of his losses with quiet trust in God. He arose, tore his mantle and shaved his head - marks of mourning in those days- and then fell down on the ground and worshipped God. That must have been a bitter moment for Satan. Job cried out, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:20,21). His words have been dust in Satan's mouth for thousands of years, for multitudes of God's children have repeated Job's words when similar ill have befallen them. How wonderful that when we are blinded by tears, we can nevertheless see our God. In fact, our tears become crystal lenses through which He is magnified; and in the midst of suffering we realize the greatness of His power and the tenderness of His love."
"God next permitted the hedge to be lowered further, to permit Satan to afflict Job with anything short of death. Satan immediately launched an attack on the body of Job. Boils covered the poor man from head to foot."
"Once more Job triumphed and praised God in the midst of pain. He was confident that there was an eternal purpose behind his suffering, and knew that the events of time were important in the light of eternal issues. We must not forget that an invisible war - a rebellion of Satan against God - is being fought in the lives of men. God in His Word and by His actions in the lives of His people tells us that we are expendable in this invisible war. But, where an expendable man dies in an earthly war, a suffering saint lives eternally, shining as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever."
"However when suffering comes to us, we should not immediately think that we are suffering for God in His war with the enemy. First, we should ask if we have wandered from His path. Second, we should ask Him to use our tribulation to form His image in us, in order that we may become like Christ. Then we may ask Him to use our suffering for His honor and glory. For, if God can be thus glorified, and if Satan can be made to eat dust, we are delighted that God does with us whatever He pleases."
Barnhouse, Donald Grey. God's River Romans 5:1-11 Expositions of Bible Doctrines Epistles to the Romans.Philadelphia: The Evangelical Foundation, inc., 1959. 85-91
