Continuing from post ‘The Fellowship of His Sufferings III‘ Neal A. Maxwell in his book ‘All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience’ wrote. Again, for Neal A. Maxwell’s explanation for types of suffering, review. . .‘The Fellowship of His Sufferings II’
Furthermore, the very act of choosing to be a disciple and a believer can bring to us a certain special suffering (a variation of Type III. . . For explanation of types of suffering see ‘Types of Suffering’.) This was dramatically the case with Moses, who chose Christ (a significant reference, by the way, to Christ in His Old Testament role), having decided to forego the luxuries of the courts of Egypt in order “to suffer afflictions with the people of God.” (Hebrews 11:25-26)
Regardless of the type of suffering, however, if one examines the ecology of suffering, he will see many things. The mistakes and sins of some often cause great suffering among those who are, in a sense, innocent. The parents of disobedient children suffer because of the unrighteousness of their children. Likewise, the suffering of aging parents coping with real health problems can cause resentment in the children of these faithful parents. Often though the person who is undergoing the primary suffering is handling it well, those who are suffering secondarily react less well.
Others of us may struggle so much with (and murmur over) Type II suffering—the routine but still challenging things that come with life—that the Lord is not able to give us some of the growth experiences of Type III because we are barely coping with Type II.
To pretend that the boundary lines between types of suffering can be drawn with clinical precision and that demarcation is possible in all circumstances would be a mistake. Moreover, the interplay between the various forms of suffering makes them interactive. But, even so, there is a certain utility in being able to distinguish between the pain which is self-inflicted. . . and the suffering of an individual who is mocked by associates and is denied certain opportunities because he is declared a Christian, on the other hand.
There is a clear and obvious difference between being given a “thorn” in the “flesh,” as Paul was, and willfully impaling ourselves on the spears of sin. In the former circumstance the afflicted may ask “Why?”—but in the latter situation that is not a useful question to address anyone but ourselves.
The regret can be real enough, for instance, when one has falsely accused another, and if it is, then repentance can occur and the pain can prove productive, but the blame for the pain can scarcely be attributed to God.
The process of aging, with its accompanying challenges, can be very real and even painful, but there is a reasonable egalitarianism about the process of dying and the aging that precedes it.
Thus life itself brings to us dying—though in different stages of this mortal experience. We may understandably ask, at times, “Why this way—painful and protracted—of exiting?” But meanwhile we are not surrounded by souls who bear a total exemption of exiting at all. Of the first two general types of suffering, it can safely be said that there are no exemptions.
It is much more useful and instructive to contemplate the third type of suffering however. Is the added challenge, such as Paul had, given to all—or only to those who had reached a point when God gives it because they can take it? Only God and the Savior would know with perfect precision. Yet it does seem that Abraham’s offer of Isaac is the clear equivalent—in suffering and chastening—of going the extra mile in serving others. It is the going—of above and beyond” dimension that comes with deep discipleship, reflecting particularized planning by God and calling for faith and special trust in Him and in His purposes.
The alcoholic, at least in his sober moments, knows whence his misery comes, while the suffering Saint must discern God’s severe and tutoring mercy, recognizing it for what it is. But, oh, the marvelous difference between momentarily feeling foresaken, as Jesus did on the cross, crying out “Why?” to Father—because He knew Father WAS there—and the futility borne of faithlessness in which man assumes utter aloneness!
But all is managed in the wisdom of God and in ways that we mortals must simply trust because of our faith in the omniscient Lord. . .
Neal A. Maxwell. All These things Shall Give Thee Experience (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,1979) 32-34. . . it all starts on page 29.
