The God of Suffering | A Discussion on Pain

Every pastor, spiritual leader, and faith-based organization has been faced with the question of WHY. And from articles to raw podcasts, retreats and conference experiences, we as Christians have sought to honestly and respectfully grapple with this tension of our faith. And while we have been able to accept the basic principles of Christianity like sin, consequences and God’s sovereignty – the leaders I respected the very most when they were asked this question were the ones who’d answer, “I don’t know.”

And while we worship a God who is fair and just, and unafraid of the hardest questions we have for Him, there is a solace and intimacy found with Jesus when our questions are answered by Him with another question…” Do you trust, and want me?”

I used to wonder, deeply, why people had to die of cancer, Alzheimer’s, or even old age. I would hear of the story of a drunk driver killing someone’s loved one on their way home from one of the best nights of their life and genuinely wonder why such a terrible thing was necessary in God’s grand design or plan for the world. Why did plans have to change, tragedy have to strike, and sorrow invade our individual stories in order for us to see God and bring to Him the glory He deserves? The theological answers to pain were not sufficient for me. The idea that Jesus would utilize suffering and hardship as a tool for mere glory felt unsettling.

When we are approaching one of the most sensitive and real subjects of our faith like this one, honesty and the commitment to be open with Jesus is critically valuable. God never desired a relationship with you that asked you to hide your feelings, cover your doubts and silence your questions. The God of the Bible is a Lord and Savior who can handle your wildest disputes towards Him. When Jesus died on the cross, it proved to hurting people like you and me that we have the choice to pursue a God who desires to sit in our suffering with us. Not above us, or near us. With us.

If you are struggling today to believe that there is no distance between The Healer and your hurt, then this is for you. And something that is worth considering as you continue to read this is where Jesus is sitting in the room or place around you even right now. Where do you think He is resting and abiding? To you, Is He near, far, or somewhere in-between?

My statement here may be controversial to some. But I answer the dire question of suffering with my own experience with Jesus on the issue… And that experience has led me to one, very clear truth when it comes to sorrow in our lives. That there is a theological answer to why pain exists, and there is an emotional one. And I argue with all of my heart to you that both answers/responses matter in a co-equal state.

There is absolutely a healthy, Biblical and emotional aspect to handling or processing pain that Jesus desires for those who know and are learning to love Him. Not one, or the other. Let me be very clear about what I am writing.

My claim is that the response from a follower of Jesus to suffering in their lives is meant to be both Biblical and emotional. And while the Bible and theologies of our faith are designed to inform our mind, the emotions we feel when life hurts the most are just as valuable to Jesus…

I advocate that a Christian who is confident in their relationship with Jesus will process the hardest and lowest of valleys with the truth of the scriptures, and the freedom of the gospel to feel greatly. God is not limited in His Lordship over our lives. The Bible and the truths of Christianity were not only entrusted to our minds alone. Our hearts are beautiful and lovely and can equally be submitted to the authority of Jesus and the power of His gospel.

Barna research confirms that more than half of young adults in America today are battling anxiety, with more than a third of young people expressing real struggles with depression and questions or interests in the subject of suicide. The reality that means more now than ever is that Satan is at war not only with the mind, but with the heart of people who are made in the image of God. The enemy is on a campaign to use suffering to destroy our faith and to take our life.

Theologically, the answer to suffering is simple. Because of sin, our world is filled with brokenness and will groan until Jesus comes to bring us home. That the cross has Spiritually redeemed and rescued us. But our physical state is still in decay as a consequence for the sin of Adam. Easy, two sentence answer to pain from the theology of Scripture. That’s important and not to be taken lightly. But here is where I am happy to be controversial. That answer as perfect and right as it is…is not enough. Because it was not meant to be the only factor of our faith in Jesus during hard times. God created your heart with the ability to emotionally feel, react and choose Him.

The epitome of God’s decision to grant His creation with free will was to experience the most intimate thing He would with those He made…the choice to know Him and love Him. A choice. A choice that following His creation would be put to the greatest test following the sin of Adam. God made Adam from the clay of His earth knowing in His supremacy and knowledge that Adam would choose Satan, and that He would die for the sins of every man to follow…And He chose to breathe air into Adam’s clay lungs anyways.

The answer to suffering and pain isn’t just the blanket theology of sin. It is the intimate reality of choice. God did not take a risk when He created us, He KNEW the outcome of creating us would be the nailing of His son to a sinners cross created for you and me.

To grapple with suffering and arrive on the other side without having deconstructed your faith or broken your covenant with God is to understand that Jesus is found in the deepest, darkest and most wounded parts of your heart. I found Jesus when I lost the battle. When my loved ones got sick. When I gave into temptation. When I doubted and yearned and walked away…That is where I found Jesus. Big enough for all my questions, gracious enough for all my concerns, and willing to die for all of my pride.

I am not saying theology didn’t matter. That obedience wasn’t critical. I’m not encouraging Christians to “go off the deep end” to find God. To the contrary, I am pleading with Christians to allow the theology of Scripture and what is says about God to give them the freedom to feel, fall, and recklessly crash into the grace and splendor of our God.

And if you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, “He’s all over the place,” Yes – that’s the point. Permission to be all over place: granted. By: Jesus.

Not only can God handle the complexities of our individual stories, struggles and difficult realities, He welcomes them. He expects them. And it is in His nature to draw near, draw up, and draw out the courageous and world-changing qualities that He planted inside us when we were knit together in the womb of our mothers.

And at the end of the day, behind all of my controversial statements, that is what I leave you with…when God has called you to walk through Suffering in an act of intimacy and devotion to Him, He equips you with the capacity to change His world and make much of Him in the process.

What feels overwhelming to you today? What’s falling apart?

He’s big enough not just to handle it, but to hold you. To fill you. And to use you in way you never imagined.

Wake up to the reality today that you are falling in love with a God who moves mountains, heals the broken, and qualifies the called.

And that means whether you’re in a hospital room waiting for results, jail cell waiting for a trail, or desk waiting for the clock to strike 5, the best is truly yet to come.