This is Why You Never Mock God

The Death of Technoblade and the Uvalde Shooting

In June of 2022, one of the most popular YouTubers, Technoblade, with over 10 million subscribers, died after a long battle with cancer. Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you're watching this, I am dead.

So let's sit down and have one final chat. My real name is Alex. The YouTube community came together in support of this beloved YouTuber.

Technoblade was the best. I swear to God, I do not have one bad memory with Techno. I still haven't been fully able to process.

In May of 2022, 21 people, 19 students and two teachers, were killed by a gunman at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

From there, officials say he barricaded himself inside a fourth grade classroom. This is where all 21 people died, 19 students and two teachers.

The tragic and horrific mass shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde. With the school shooting in Texas leaving 19 children and two teachers dead, it is the second biggest school shooting in American history after Sandy Hook, where a gunman killed 20 small kids and six adults almost exactly a decade ago.

Why Tragedy Does Not Contradict God's Sovereignty

If God is really in control, as Christians believe, then how could tragedies like these, and so many more, happen? Many who believe this is a contradiction in Christianity don't hold back their criticism of the Christian God.

For example, Ricky Gervais makes this joke. Ring ring. Hello? Hello. Um, could I speak to God please? Yes, speaking. Oh, what? I didn't think you'd answer the phone yourself. No, that wasn't me. I was in Africa then, giving AIDS to babies.

He does everything. Does Gervais have a point, or is there a way to reconcile God's sovereignty with the evil we see in the world? It's common to believe that suffering is always bad, and it's common for Christians to believe that it's always God's will to deliver people from suffering.

Oftentimes when we think of suffering, and there are theologies out there, and movements out there that look at suffering as something that is inconsistent with the Christian life. If you're experiencing suffering, then what you need to do is you need to call upon the power of God to get you out of suffering, because when you're walking in the power of God, you won't be experiencing suffering.

However, the Apostle Paul teaches that suffering is actually a good and wise part of God's eternal and sovereign plan.

Paul says, share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. In other words, he's not saying call upon the power of God to deliver you from suffering, but recognize the power of God that has delivered you to suffering and will deliver you through suffering.

Especially today, we live in a culture that loves comfort and hates suffering. However, we need to consider the reality that the presence of suffering does not necessarily mean something is wrong.

This is an uncomfortable truth for us, because we do. We live in an age where you just, you don't suffer. If you're suffering, something is wrong. I feel a headache coming on. Give me something before the suffering hits, right?

We just, suffering is just not something that we do. Suffering is just not something that we endure. If I'm suffering, something is wrong. Something is not right. Paul is dispelling that here in this day.

He is in the midst of suffering, and it's not because something's wrong.

There are multiple reasons why suffering exists in this world.

Suffering as Consequence of Personal Sin

Now, when we talk about suffering, there's a number of different kinds of suffering.

To help spread this truth, clicking subscribe does more than you might think. First, sometimes suffering is a consequence of our own sin. This kind of suffering usually makes sense to people. If we do something wrong, oftentimes we are punished for immorality.

Some of them we're okay with and we expect, or let me say one of them we're okay with and we expect. And that one is the suffering that we experience because we sin, right? We learn that when we're children.

Amen. I hope your children learn this, right? The suffering that is directly associated as a consequence of your sinful behavior. We get that. Here's the problem. That's the only kind of suffering generally that we get.

However, the fact that sin deserves punishment oftentimes leads people to believe that good behavior deserves earthly blessings and rewards, when that is certainly not the case. This is because oftentimes suffering has nothing to do with how you behave.

When we're serving the Lord and experience suffering, our tendency is to say, I wonder what I did to deserve this. Amen? Or, as if that's bad enough, by the way, that's bad. You need me to say that, that's bad.

But it can be worse because the flip side of that is, wait a minute. I've been good. I've served you. I've been faithful. How dare you allow this to happen to me? In other words, God, I deserve better.

And you say, well, no, I would never say that to the Lord. Yes, you do. You don't use those words, but you say that to the Lord. I just don't get it. I just don't understand it. Well, that's because there's more than one type of suffering.

It's not just, hey, you did this thing wrong and there's consequences to your behavior. That's a very real kind of suffering.

Suffering Because of Other People's Sin

Second, sometimes suffering occurs as a result of other people's sin. The tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, would be an example of this kind of suffering. The children and teachers who died suffered because of the gunman's evil and sin.

There's suffering that we endure because we sin, but there's also suffering that we endure because people sin against us. We're not the only sinners in the world. Amen. We're not the only sinners in the world.

There's suffering that we endure because other people sin against us. And again, we really see ourselves then too, right?

And although it's certainly tragic to experience suffering because of other people's sin, at the same time, we need to recognize that the victims of these tragedies are sinners themselves who are not completely innocent.

Paul teaches that all have sinned and deserve God's righteous judgment.

This is another thing that marriage does and helps us to see and understand. I don't view sin equally, right? When my wife sins against me, it's because she's a sinner who sinned against me. And when I sin against her, I just made a mistake.

Can't say amen, you ought to say ouch, right? Come on, obviously I didn't mean that, right? And that's how we have a tendency to view the suffering that we endure because of other people's sin. And we magnify the suffering that we endure because of other people's sin.

We see injustice and enduring suffering because of other people's sin.

Suffering from the Fallout of Other People's Sin and a Fallen World

There is also suffering that occurs indirectly because of other people's sins. For example, the evil of slavery in the United States is certainly related to some of the suffering we see today. And the government can advocate for policies that result in suffering for children who are confused about their sexuality.

That's not the only kind of sin that we suffer either. We suffer sin, we suffer because of our own sin. We suffer because of the sins that people have committed against us. We also suffer because of sins with which we're associated.

We suffer because of sins with which we're associated. What do I mean by that? Our parents can commit sin that impacts our life. Our forefathers commit sin that impacts our life. Our leaders, our governmental leaders can commit sin that impacts our life.

And we can suffer because of the sin of those who represent us, those under whose authority we rest.

Suffering can occur simply because we live in a fallen world. Examples of this are natural disasters like hurricanes and illnesses such as the cancer that caused Technoblade's death.

Then there's sin that we suffer simply because we live in a fallen world. Houston is one of those parts of the world where people understand this better than most, right? Tropical storm, hurricane. What is that?

We live in a fallen world. And because we live in a fallen world, and that is associated, it is a direct result of Adam's sin. The turmoil that creation experiences is a direct result of Adam's sin. And so when there's a tornado, when there's a hurricane, when there's a tropical storm, when there's flooding, when mosquitoes bite you, when you experience disease, or like in my case, chronic kidney disease.

What? Welcome to Adam's race. We are fallen, we are broken, and we suffer because we live in this fallen and broken world.

Suffering for the Gospel and Spiritual Warfare

Finally, there is suffering that occurs because of proclaiming the gospel. The world hates the gospel of sin and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. So when Christians proclaim this message to the world, oftentimes the world responds with persecution and violence.

But then there's another kind of suffering, and it is the suffering that we experience because we are engaged in this cosmic battle. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, amen?

And sometimes we suffer as a direct result of that.

Suffering Points to Jesus Christ

Now, here's the key question. What is the purpose of all these kinds of suffering that we see in the world? Much of it seems so unfair. The answer is that suffering is meant to point us all towards Jesus' suffering on the cross to save sinners.

In Genesis, Joseph experienced unbelievable suffering from his brothers that resulted in slavery in Egypt and imprisonment. Why did Joseph suffer so much? To make sure that Jesus would be born.

Why all of this suffering? Why this suffering? So Judah wouldn't die. Well, that doesn't seem fair.

Likewise, in the book of Ruth, Naomi loses all of her loved ones in a very short period of time. Why did Naomi suffer so much? To make sure Jesus would be born.

Come on. This is like Job in five verses, right? So that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. This is awful. This is all kinds of suffering all rolled in together, right? Remember, Joseph endures all this suffering.

And why does he endure all this suffering? He endures all this suffering so that Judah, the promised seed, wouldn't die. Now, Ruth, you know, Naomi endures all this suffering. Why? Because, you know, one of these young ladies is named Ruth.

And if you read all the way to the end, not only does Ruth get a husband by the name of Boaz, but these are grandparents to King David, who was a descendant of Judah, the promised seed, who is going to give birth to Israel's great king, Jesus, who is the promised seed.

And finally, Jesus experienced the ultimate suffering on the cross when he satisfied God's wrath and paid the penalty for sin so that all who repent and believe would be saved from sin and suffering in the life to come.

Run to Christ because he is the purpose and answering to suffering. So back to Joseph. It just doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem fair.

Why do I have to suffer? I was buried in a pit. I became a slave. And then if that wasn't enough, I went from being a slave to going to prison. What are you doing here? And it's so that Judah, Judah, Judah, Judah.

Why? Why? Because Judah is going to have a great, great, great, great, great grandson named David. Okay? And David is going to have a great, great, great, great, great, great grandson who's going to be the incarnation, second person to the Trinity, who's going to die on a cross for your sin.

You are suffering so that I could save Judah, so that I could save David, so that I could send Jesus, so that he could save you.