Pastor Ian shares the 2nd part of the series ‘Finding Purpose in Pain

Why Does Pain Come?

If we were to try and give a reason for every pain, hurt, adversity that we experience would be to play God.

There will be those times when we know without a shadow of doubt, why we are going through pain but there will also be those times when we won’t understand why?

The Pain We Understand

Many times our own foolish choices will cause us pain, heartache and hurt because God in His goodness and grace has given to humankind the power of choice. It’s called free will.

As He will not deny us of the power of choice, so too He will not withhold from us, the consequences of our choices. That’s part of our growth process.

You see making the right choices in our lives is a learning curve and part of that process is making the wrong choices.

There is the familiar phrase ‘Easy as falling off a bike.’ And we say that because part of the early process of learning to ride a bike, is the falling off.

Understand this about God, He is not some angry ogre, some bitter old man with a grudge against the whole world. He is not some sentient being who just doesn’t like us having fun and enjoying life.

He is not like some traffic cop waiting in a concealed lay by with a speed gun pointed in our direction, just waiting for someone to break the speed limit so that He can inflict a massive penalty on us.

No instead the Bible tells us that He is longsuffering/patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

The Message paraphrases this. ‘He is restraining Himself on account of you…He’s giving everyone space and time to change.’

The Pain You Don’t Understand

The most difficult type of pain to deal with is the one that comes for no apparent reason. It is neither our fault nor fault of others. It is the hardest kind of pain to endure because we simply don’t like what we cannot explain..

This is the reason why when people go through this kind of pain, the most common question on the… Is why?

We know that the answer to the question will not necessarily take away the pain but at least the pain becomes more bearable because we understand it.

No Easy Answers

 In short what we are asking is why does a good God allow suffering and evil? Why do bad things happen to good people?

The truth is there or no easy answers. We become foolishly presumptuous when we try to offer answers to every dilemma we all others face.

If we am to address hurt, suffering and pain honestly, for ourselves and with others, we must find a way of facing it as an enemy, being honest about how it makes us feel and find a deeper, better, clearer Biblical answer than, “Well, it will never happen to me or anyone that I love”.

Sometimes there or no answers at all on the side of eternity. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians13:9-10

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is involved will be done away with.

 While it is true that God is sovereign and in that respect, He can do what He wants. We need to be careful because if not we can easily resign ourselves to a ‘Que Sera Sera’ (What will be will be) or ‘Fait accompli’ (Done and Decided) posture.

Christianity believes that alongside the honest pain of suffering, hurt and heartache we can have and know hope through Christ.

 

Death is not the end, death does not have the last word.