Pain and Suffering

Suffering is real. How can we make sense of it? What can we learn from it? Can we overcome it?

People have different ideas about what is wrong with our world. Obviously economic injustice, political factors, racism, religious hatred and greed are factors in the existence of suffering. But they are not the only ones. They all point to a far more insidious source - one which is in fact not at all far from our human hearts.

Suffering and pain tell us that something is wrong. If it wan't for the fact that we suffer and experience pain, we might become totally detached and say that "all is well".  While some might try to push that philosophy even today, reality has a way of intruding on us. We will never be able to totally escape from pain even by means of drugs, or suicide. The reason for this is that there is an afterlife. This world is only a test to see who will ultimately choose to love and worship the only One worthy of our total love and affection - God himself.

Is God really Good? - This is the big question. At first glance it might seem impossible to answer this in the affirmative. Many people alternate between hating God and denying his existence. Some, seeing the evil in religion - including the Christian religion as it is practiced - see an answer in erasing from our consciousness the belief in God.

The real reason for suffering is that God respects us enough to let our actions have real consequences. He gives men the possibility to actually have a huge say in their own eternal destiny, as well as their destiny on earth. God is looking for people to share His goodness eternally with. He is looking for a real love relationship. That would be impossible if we had no real choice in the matter. These real choices do have big effects. All we do is reverberating throughout eternity and has more consequences than we could possibly imagine. Bad choices hurt people - including yourself. Bad choices invite the involvement of evil spirits, which keep people in bondage to things which bring no lasting satisfaction and often outright misery and unhappiness.

Hugh Ross' answer to this question in summary

Have you Been Hurt? If you are suffering, prayer can make a big difference, if it is offered IN FAITH by someone who is REAL with God. I'm collecting stories of God's miracles which He is doing in modern times. I do not have time to record all the answers to prayer that I can find strong evidence for. According to Jesus Christ, you have to forgive others if you want your faith to work, if you want God to forgive you, or if you want to be free. If you've had a bad experience with some religious group - join the club! - but remember, God Himself loves you and has made Himself accessable to you, if you will only believe and trust in Him.

Who Cares?  You may not care, but God does, and we do, too. I didn't care about anyone else until Jesus changed my life - but now I'm devoting my life to serving others and co-operating with God's purposes. People care about a lot of irrelevant distractions and entertainments - what will it take for us to see the real value of knowing God the Creator?

Good News  This links to a systematic teaching I prepared which outlines the Biblical answer to the problem of our sin. How could God forgive us if sin demands a just punishment? What has God done for us? Please read the article to find out.

Can We Overcome Suffering?

A lot of our suffering is due to our own unwise choices. But we are actually guaranteed by God that we will suffer persecution if we truly want to live for Him. Sickness and disease - both physical and emotional - can generally be overcome in this life by faith in God, but suffering will remain part of our lives on and off until we pass beyond this temporal existence into what God has prepared for those who love Him.

For the Christian, suffering helps us to keep our eyes on things of eternal value, to have compassion on others, to develop patience, to prove our love and loyalty towards God, and to prove to men the genuineness of our convictions and our love. It helps us to understand the heart of God better, because God suffers constantly - because He loves so much.

Don't just think of your own suffering, but consider the suffering of God Himself. Jesus Christ was no stranger to suffering. As God in the flesh, He was certainly willing to take some of his own medicine. He lived, suffered rejection and died a horrendous death of agony - and it was for you. Couldn't you trust in a God like that?

I welcome responses to this message.

Michael