The Question No Pastor Can Answer | Pastor Reacts

I do still actually pray numerous times for God to keep my family safe and healthy, but I don't know if there's a point to these prayers. He didn't protect my daughter from drowning. He didn't protect us from criminals.

How should I be praying regarding the topic of protection when it feels so utterly pointless?

Suffering, Prayer, and the Question of Divine Protection

Suffering shifts your perception in a manner that makes you sensitive to the presence of God. If you let it, your suffering brings you closer to the Lord. It unlocks the power and presence of Christ. If you don't remember anything else about this video, remember this.

Your suffering is not wasted. Pastor John Piper answers probably one of the most difficult questions a pastor can.

Face.

If God is going to allow so much pain and suffering in my life, why should I pray for his protection?

Oof.

That's a heavy one for sure. Now, Piper's gonna give his answer, but you know what, I'm gonna give you mine too. And let's walk through this one together so that we can understand what God's word has to say about it.

If you're new here, welcome to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate, and I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you are meant.

To be.

Before I started doing this ministry full-time, I was a pastor at a local church in Las Vegas for a number of years. And so, from that experience, I make these kinds of videos. Don't forget to like, sub, and share this one around, but only if it blesses you, alright?

And I pray it does.

I used to believe that my family and I were generally well-protected by God. I would sing over my young children at night the benediction, the Lord bless you and keep.

You.

And life was pretty good. When my almost five-year-old daughter died by drowning in our swimming pool a few years back, I stopped singing that song. And since then, I feel insincere praying for the Lord's protection.

It didn't help my faith when we were robbed of our valuables at gunpoint three years ago either. I do still actually pray numerous times for God to keep my family safe and healthy, but I don't know if there's a point to these prayers.

He didn't protect my daughter from drowning. He didn't protect us from criminals. My elderly parents have been burglarized and scammed, and I have no guarantee that my family and I will be spared trials in the future.

What, why, how should I be praying regarding the topic of protection when it feels so utterly pointless?

Pastorally Responding to Grief and Suffering

Wow, that's heartbreaking. As a pastor, you see these moments play out in your church family's lives, and there are just no words. There are no words in those moments. I mean, you know, what else can you do but mourn and weep alongside these folks?

Logical answers are not the solution in these moments, amen? And hopefully all you pastors out there, you understand what I'm talking about. You know, there comes a time when people are ready to receive logical answers, and there comes a time when they are not.

And sometimes people ask when they're not ready for the logic. So we need to know the difference. We need to be able to read the moments well, because there is a logical answer. So let's see how Pastor John responds.

What should we be praying regarding the topic of protection? We should be praying that God would protect us from any test of our faith that would exceed the grace he promises to provide for the endurance of it.

So I'm sure Pastor John is going to talk about this, you know, at least I hope he does. But the same word for test in the Hebrew is the same word for tempt. It's also true in some cases in the Greek, right?

And the way that we understand these terms changes depending on the context, okay? This is why the Bible is careful to say that God will test you, but James says he never tempts anyone to sin. Same Hebrew term and concept, different contextual meanings.

The ability to grow by it and glorify him in it. And I say that because of the promise in 1 Corinthians 10, 13. And I'm going to translate this, replacing the word temptation with test because they're exactly the same word in Greek.

And I think it has this broader sense.

Let me show you, just pull this up for reference here, okay? 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

All right, now let's hear what Piper has to say.

No test has overtaken you. That is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tested beyond your ability. But with the test, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure.

It.

For example, when Paul...

So look at what Piper is doing here. He's replacing the word tempt with test because it's the same word in the Greek. And as we explore this, we'll start to understand why it's important to remember that, okay?

But I'll just, I'll let him finish.

Asked for protection and deliverance from his thorn in the flesh, which caused him pain. The Lord refused to protect him from it or take the thorn away. He had another kind of protection in mind, not physical protection, another kind.

So I'm noticing something here. Piper is using the word protection very carefully, very precisely. You know, I would imagine he's trying to get at the biblical notion of the protection of.

God.

And I mean, the whole point of this video is now we're touching on it, right? The protection of God is not what we think it is. Not always. And I'll tell you how I understand that in a moment, but let's take a look at Paul's thorn in the flesh reference for just a moment.

Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse seven. So to keep me from becoming conceited, so that's important, to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

Hmm.

He said it twice. Must be important, right? I mean, you should immediately recognize, ladies and gentlemen, that there is a purpose for Paul's suffering. And if there is a purpose for Paul's suffering, then there is a purpose for yours.

Are you watching this video because you or someone you know is currently suffering? Know this. It is not wasted. See, now we're starting to touch on an intersection of theological ideas, right? Because not only does God test people and the testing of God has a specific purpose, but also consider this, suffering unlocks the power of Christ for a person.

Look at verse eight. Paul says three times, I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. For here it is. My power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that, here it is again, the power of Christ may rest upon me. See, sometimes we just read these things and we go super fast and we go, yeah, amen.

That sounds really great. But we don't really consider what is actually being spoken and what the deep implications are for us, right? The power of Christ, what is that, right? It's being manifested through the presence of God, actually.

So these are all, I'm sweepingly going through this, you know, because these are some deep biblical concepts here. But nevertheless, the point remains, and I'm trying to be very precise with my words here.

It's not that suffering causes God to be more present or, you know, make somebody more saved or something. It's that suffering shifts your perception in a manner that makes you sensitive to the presence of God.

If you let it, you know, Bonhoeffer, and, you know, he talked about this. C .S. Lewis talked about this. Lewis famously said that God whispers to us in our pleasures. He speaks in our consciences and he shouts in our pain.

As a matter of fact, pain and suffering, according to Lewis, is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf.

World.

You know, it's a great book where the quote comes from. It's called The Problem of Pain. I'm looking over there because I have it on my bookshelf. D .A. Carson talks about this as well. So there is a developed idea in Christendom that affirms the notion that your suffering brings you closer to the Lord.

It unlocks the power and presence of Christ. In other words, there is a purpose for suffering. Suffering is not wasted if you have the eyes to see it. And that's what Paul is teaching here. It's specifically his weaknesses and his thorn, you know, whatever that is, that he's going to lean into it.

He's not going to shy away from it, you know, because when he leans into it, guess what? The power of Christ will rest upon him.

He said, my grace, Paul, is sufficient for you in this test. My power is made perfect in your weakness. And Paul responds amazingly, wonderfully, gloriously. I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so the power of Christ may rest upon me.

That's 2 Corinthians 12 9. What we pray is, don't let anything happen to me that would exceed the sufficiency of your grace to help me endure it, grow in my faith by it, and glorify your grace in it. If God removes his protection in any area of our lives, which he regularly does, these are the purposes to help us endure, to increase our reliance on him in loss, and to glorify the sufficiency of his grace to carry us through even with joy in the loss.

So I'm appreciating that Piper, I get the sense that we agree. We would probably just say it using different words, you know what I mean? So I don't know if you're picking up on this yet, but we are not explicitly taught as Christians to, you know, that we should avoid suffering.

What we are to pray for is God's will and protection. Okay, but wait a second. Here it is again, right? Protection is not avoidance of suffering. So if that's like the mental hurdle for you, let me go ahead and just remove it by saying it one more time.

God's protection, his deliverance, these are all consistent things taught throughout the scripture, not just New Testament, but old. God's salvation is not avoidance of suffering. The Bible is saying something different about God's protection.

The Bible teaches that God's protection is commensurate. It is part and parcel to his presence. Look at this. So this is Psalm 91. This Psalm is actually incredibly important, not just because, you know, the author drops some insightful theological concepts, but also because this is the Psalm, or this is one of the places where the devil quotes from when he tempts Jesus in the wilderness.

He quotes from Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. So there's a lot to chew on. You should become very familiar as Christians with this particular Psalm, right? But the big idea is God is your refuge. He is your strength.

He is your shield. He is your fortress. Look at this. Psalm 91 verse 1, he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust, for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. The point is God does not promise avoidance of suffering. He promises deliverance, right?

You see the word? He promises his presence. Watch this. Verse 14, because he holds fast to me in love, so this is the Lord speaking now, I will deliver.

Him.

I will protect him because he knows my name. Now, this is a much bigger concept to explore. You know, so I did a video recently with Scott Lindsay and Jorge Gil from Logos where we talked about what the name of God actually refers to.

Did you see that video? This is a huge theological concept that includes lots of things, but guess what the name of God also includes. It also entails God's presence. Watch how the name of God is associated with his presence.

This is Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 5, but you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to, here it is, put his name and make his habitation.

There.

You see that? The name of God is associated with where he habits or inhabits. It's associated with his presence, all right? And this isn't just one or two places, right? This isn't just in Deuteronomy or whatever.

We see this in Numbers chapter 6. We see this in 1 Kings chapter 8. This is in Isaiah 56, which means that when we read Psalm 91, right? I will protect him, this is what he says, because he knows my name.

What we need to understand is that God's presence goes hand-in-hand with his protection. His protection goes hand-in-hand with his presence. The same is true of God's deliverance. The same is true of God's salvation.

See, the issue is we often equate the concept of protection with avoidance, and that's not what the Bible is teaching us, friends. Protection is presence. It's the Lord's presence with us as we go through trials and testing.

Psalm 34 18 says, you know, that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he saves or he delivers the crushed in spirit. Why is that? Because his presence is near. He is with them. All of this means that God promises to minister to us through trials, but not so that we can avoid them altogether, but so that our faith can be revealed as we run to him.

As we look to him, he becomes our refuge, our shelter, our strength. And all of that has the benefit of growing us and maturing us in the spirit.

So, if I were with Belinda, I would ask her, I would ask you, Belinda, as tenderly as possible, when you say, it didn't help my faith when we were robbed of our valuables at gunpoint three years ago.

Why is that?

Because that was God's purpose in it. Hebrews 10 34 says, you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Paul said that he was crushed to the point of despairing of life.

And that was God's purpose. It was God's purpose to make him rely not on himself, but on God, was the design of the crushing. And so I would ask you, do you have a biblical view of suffering?

Timing, Pastoral Discernment, and the Purpose of Suffering

So this is what I meant a moment ago by timing, right? You know, you should not say this in the initial moments of suffering or in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one, you know, especially in such a shocking manner.

As the Bible teaches, there is a time to speak and a time to be silent.

Amen.

But when it is time, and that's a, you know, that's a discernment issue for all pastors or, you know, any Christian really. Then you can start to point some of these things out, right? God's testing is meant to reveal your faith.

What is your faith? Is it strong? Is it based on inaccurate understandings or are they accurate? You know, is your faith reliant enough upon the Lord to run to him and to continue to run to him, to seek refuge in his presence?

By the way, none of that is easy. You know, those of you who have suffered in the past, like me, or are currently suffering, you know, none of this is easy. It's the most difficult experience that you could possibly walk through.

I mean, just to sometimes get through a single moment is the hardest thing that you could ever do. I totally understand that. It can feel so overwhelming and crushing to you. I know exactly how that feels.

And yet the promise of God's word is that none of this is wasted. I mean, if you don't remember anything else about this video, remember this, your suffering is not wasted. It has a purpose. And the other side of your obedience and your trust in God brings much growth and maturity and benefit to your soul.

You know, God's presence is with you. He will not leave you. Let's do this. I encourage you to listen to this full response by John Piper. I think it's a good one. But I want to highlight for you one of Jesus' moments, one of his last moments here on this earth, because I think it's instructive for us all.

Take a look at this. Now, a moment ago, I said that we are not explicitly taught as Christians to pray for avoidance of suffering. What we should be doing is recognizing that suffering has a purpose. And what I suspect we should be concerned about is then praying that we are able to fulfill the purpose of our suffering.

Because whatever that is, it's going to align to God's will, right? Having said that, did you know that Jesus actually asked God to allow him to avoid his.

Fate?

Look at this. Verse 39, going a little farther, Jesus fell on his face and prayed, saying this, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Wait a second, Nate.

I thought you said the Bible doesn't explicitly teach that we should avoid suffering. That's right. It doesn't. But it does contain this moment where Jesus prays to the Father. But I would point this out.

Notice what is Jesus' primary concern here? Is it avoidance of any pain and suffering at all costs? Or is it ultimately the Father's will? Right? Now, by the way, after Jesus prays this prayer, he is going to be arrested.

He's going to be tortured and crucified on a cross. But guess what? He will never again ask God at any point through any of those other events to get him out of the pain and suffering. He will not ask God to avoid anything that comes.

And the question is why? Look at this. Verse 56. All this has taken place so that what? The scriptures will be fulfilled. There is a purpose for Jesus' suffering. There is a purpose for your suffering.

And while some of it will, you know, likely remain a mystery, you can rest assured that it entails growing and maturing in the Spirit and being given the gift of the power and presence of Christ. Actually, look at how Peter characterizes it in 1 Peter 4.

Verse 12 says, Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you. Here it is, to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Here it is, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. And there it is again, right? It's the same thing Paul's talking about. It's the same thing that is promised to you through your suffering and your testing.

God's Spirit, his presence will rest upon you. And speaking from personal experience, that is a felt experience. It can be sometimes an overwhelming presence, you know? If you or someone you know is suffering, I just, the whole point of this video is just so that you remember this.

It has a purpose. It is not wasted. That is the shift in perception that we need to have for us all as Christians. We are all promised God's protection, but we have to understand how that protection is properly defined.

It is not an avoidance of pain or suffering. It is his presence. It is God's power so that we can fulfill the purpose of the suffering.

Amen?

Prayer, Comfort, and Closing Encouragement

All right, look, this one was heavy, you know? I feel the weight of this and what you may be going through at the moment. Actually, let me pray for us right now in that spirit. Heavenly Father, I pray right now for all my brothers and sisters out there.

And I even pray for those who are genuinely seeking truth. I pray, Lord, that you administer to their hearts. I pray that they would feel your special presence right now. Lord, I pray that you would allow them to put one foot in front of the other.

They don't need to understand everything. But I pray that you would give them the strength, the grace. I pray that you would give them rest so that they may continue to walk through these times. Trusting you, relying on you, understanding that you are the refuge.

You are the shield. You are the great protector, Lord. Lord, I ask for your presence to come and dwell with us. And it's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Well, hey, are you going through a tough time? You know, because you're amongst friends here. Why don't you do this? Share your experience in the comments and my community and I will pray for you. All right?

Let's love each other as best we can online. You know what I mean? Hey, if you appreciated the insights here, you might want to consider jumping over to the Patreon community. Some of the insights that I actually shared came from an extensive Bible study that we did together.

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