The Lost Plant
The philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff had written about God and suffering as an academic. But when he lost his 25-year-old son, Eric, in a mountaineering accident in 1983, the philosophical questions became personal. Four years later, in his book Lament for a Son, he wrote, "Suffering may do us good—may be a blessing, something to be thankful for. This I have learned...And sometimes, when the cry is intense, there emerges a radiance which elsewhere seldom appears: a glow of courage, of love, of insight, of selflessness, of faith. In that radiance we see best what humanity was meant to be."
As I was driving through downtown Atlanta, a guy in a sports car accelerated past me, cutting me off at the light. I laid on the horn to let him know I disapproved. Then I looked around for sympathy to see if anyone had noticed. But it was just me, angry, making noise. It would have upset me even more if God had audibly said, "Carson, are you right to be so angry about missing a light?" In Jonah 4:4, when God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?" he was asking about Jonah's fury at God's own mercy. Now he asks, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" Jonah answers God, and it's explosive: "Yes, it's right! I'm angry enough to die!" If there was a wall to punch, Jonah would have filled it with holes. God is giving Jonah the gift of loss. He's making Jonah suffer in a merciful attempt to awaken him to what suffering is like. If Jonah knows how bad it is to lose something you love, then maybe he can see why God cares about Ninevites doing evil. Even closer to home, maybe Jonah can understand why God cares about him. It's a sensitive topic. Wolterstorff asks, "How do I receive my suffering as blessing while repulsing the obscene thought that God jiggled the mountain to make me better?" How can God threaten the sailors' lives while showing mercy to both them and Jonah? Wolterstorff only asks the question, and the book of Jonah doesn't resolve it. Jonah has a point. It is intolerable to receive mercy and then lose it for no good reason. But God has only done to Jonah what Jonah wants God to do to Nineveh. I had to struggle in my marriage, my parenting, and my friendships to realize that a lot of my "obvious advice" wasn't so helpful. Simple formulas for success lose their appeal after we've suffered in ways they didn't predict.
What has suffering or loss taught you that you couldn't have learned any other way?
How has your suffering has helped you help someone else?
If God asked you, "Are you right to be angry about this?" what would he be asking you about?
Share with your friend or small group what losses have helped you become more compassionate.
Source:
Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Lament for a Son (Eerdmans, 1987), 13, 97