God at Work Amidst Suffering

By Deacon Tuttle

 Everyone has their own story and unique connection to God. Unfortunately, for some, they have had traumatic experiences that make it difficult to reconcile the fact that there is an ultimately good and sovereign Creator. In this case, our new sister in Christ, E, has wrestled through these truths and come face to face with the only One who could solve her questions, doubts, and identity – Jesus.

Aleigha Dixon, a missionary with Resonate Ellensburg, met E during Harvest time. She was sitting alone, and Aleigha took that opportunity to introduce herself. As Aleigha asked more questions about E, they quickly got into a deep conversation about E’s past hardships with her family. God provided a way to share about His loving character amid the abuses she endured. Aleigha was eager to share with E and point her to the Lord. “She had a lot of questions about where God was during her suffering, if her life had any value/worth, and if God was good. To address those things, we looked in the Bible together,” Aleigha said. With this in mind, Aleigha remembered a scripture very fitting and comforting for the conversation, Psalm 34:18:

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

After Aleigha shared this verse, she emphasized that the Lord was and is with E through the trials and that His heart is compassionate. Our God does not wish us to suffer or go through tribulations without Him. He is inviting us to a relationship and to bear burdens for us and with our fellow believers. Aleigha and E looked at two other examples of God’s goodness found in scripture from Romans 8:28 and James 1:17. For someone who wasn’t raised Christian, E struggled with the “why?” behind terrible events occurring, and attributed them to God. Aleigha showed E and said, “I honed in on talking about how brokenness is the result of sin and not a result of God.” This is an important distinction and was a key for E to understand God in a more proper light. 

As we see throughout the story of God’s redemption, sinful people and sin itself are a direct consequence of the Fall and humanity’s rebellion against the Lord. We know that God is sovereign and in control, but He is not actively causing the harm of others for punishment or in an act of cruelty. A healthy perspective of this is found in Genesis, following Joseph’s time living as a slave after his brothers betrayed and sold him into slavery. Did God allow and know this would occur? Yes, absolutely. But what did Joseph learn and say in response when he was face-to-face with his brother once again? 

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). 

Joseph did not condemn God, nor did he store up animosity towards Him. He realized that people, in this case his brothers, were at fault through their sinful schemes, and the Lord was by His side as a faithful savior. This ties in perfectly with the scripture that Aleigha shared with E, which shifted her perspective towards that of Romans 8:28: 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose." 

God, through His word and gospel, brought about a clear understanding to E about His good character even through suffering. Aleigha said she could see E being affected so powerfully by these realizations. She said statements such as, “This is changing my perspective on everything,” or “This is changing my life.” As they both continued talking about scripture and Aleigha shared her testimony, as well as the Gospel, Aleigha could tell this was not only a knowledge of understanding, but a transformative moment for E. “She was emotionally affected by the truth of how Jesus sees her and what He did for her specifically,” Aleigha said. 

Throughout this two-hour conversation, with tears shed and hearts laid bare, God brought about E’s salvation. E surrendered her life to Jesus upstairs in the student recreation center at CWU. The deciding factor for E, according to Aleigha, was this: “He was the answer to all the questions about her value and her worth. Knowing that the God of the universe knitted her together in her mother’s womb, knows her by name, and chose to give her life. It all changed her perspective on her life’s meaning and purpose.”

E shortly after resonated with the principle from scripture, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Aleigha was completely shocked by her understanding of the weight behind that statement. Her whole life up to that point, E was wrestling with security and safety, and Jesus had provided for her, and she was able to see that her ultimate value is in what God declares of her, and no one else. To close, Aleigha said this about that revelation E had, “This spoke to her because all the suffering she had endured/will endure is all temporary and the one thing that matters - her relationship with Jesus, her eternity with Jesus, cannot be taken away by anyone.”

Aleigha was taken aback by the whole interaction and God’s power. From her perspective, all she did was show up, and God worked through her. Not only did E have an understanding shift about the Lord, but so did Aleigha. Particularly, she is humbled by her smallness about what God is doing in those around her. “I was in awe of His sovereignty.” 

Moving forward, Aleigha hopes to lead E in a Bible study and walk alongside her as she pursues a relationship with God. In the meantime, we can be praying for available schedules so this happens, and that the Lord would protect E from any spiritual attacks from the enemy during her first steps as a believer. 

The amazing thing about our testimonies and encounters with the Lord is that God’s character is unchanging. Yet, we each have different life paths with our difficulties; however, God is near to the broken-hearted. He is a sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 4:15). God desires that no one would perish, but that all would come to a saving knowledge of His Son. E’s story is a powerful example that our questions are not too much for God to handle. He is drawing us in continually to learn about Him, and trust that He wants us to prosper, and in our submission, He is glorified.