Where is God in my pain?

Transcription

1 Where is God in my pain? How does Easter help me with the issues in my life? Written by Ross Wakeley

2 2 Pain, suffering and fear It s a compelling image a family heads for a chopper to be flown out of their home, as it s engulfed by floods. A lifetime of possessions and memories have been swept away what they carry is now all they own. Life may never be the same. Fast facts on the Queensland flood crisis DEATHS: A total of 30 people confirmed. BRISBANE: 11,900 homes and 2500 businesses totally flooded. 14,700 homes partly flooded. In a city of two million, 67 suburbs affected. 4,500 in emergency centres. IPSWICH: 2000 homes and 1000 businesses affected. REGIONAL CENTRES: 86 towns and cities in Queensland affected by flooding. 75% of state railway lines wrecked. SERVICES: 100,000 homes without electricity. 92 schools across Queensland had at least one building flooded. COST: Over $20 billion.

3 This is the main street of Toowoomba on the 10th January. Over 100mm rain in 60 minutes produces an inland tsunami and life went from normal to scary in a split second. Cars were swept along roads where flood water rose 7 metres in minutes. This truckie saw a woman in crisis and moved his truck to blockade the water from sweeping this woman away. She was rescued as was the lady in this window. There were other people who didn t make it. How do you process this? 3

4 4 What do you tell the kids when everything has been taken by a flood? How do you start again when the insurance company refuses to pay you to get started again? Where do you turn? Mark Kempton has felt the raw pain of this crisis. A chopper pilot for 26 years, he leads the Emergency Management team in Queensland. He and his crew rescued 28 people in 2½ hours they saved people from being swept away. We d say he s a hero.

5 5 However, Mark feels he is a real failure. Why? He can't forget a pregnant woman whose baby was torn from her arms by floodwaters moments before he saved her. He winched her to safety in the Lockyer Valley after floods hit the area. Then Mark saw her grief. "She told us her child had been in her arms, but the water was so powerful the child was torn out of her arms. That was just heartbreaking." In tears, Mark added: "It was devastating to see and the most difficult thing I think we've ever had to do. I've never been so emotional in all my 26 years of flying for those people, for the lives lost, and the fact that we couldn't save them all." Imagine you ve walked this road of pain. How do you handle this overwhelming grief, suffering and loss? Reflection: What s caused you pain in your life? Some religious people fall back on empty clichés like, Turn your scars into stars. They leave us feeling alone, judged and empty. It s a pathetic and lazy response that makes me feel ill. Let s consider a more honest approach to suffering.

6 6 This painting captures some of the response to the questions: Where is God in my pain? How does Easter help me with the issues in my life? A beginning point to the answer is that God is with us in our pain. In our suffering. We are not abandoned. St George is a Queensland town that was flooded more than once. A church put up this sign and backed it up with action that showed people LOVE.

7 7 God is with us how do I know that s true? Jesus had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:6-9, The Message) If we look at the life of Jesus, we discover the brilliant and true story of how God comes to find you and I: In the middle of our sorrow and pain Trapped by our disappointments Feeling betrayed by the pain of life God never leaves us where he finds us unless we insist.

8 8 Jesus may be with us, but does he understand my pain? Do you remember the scene in The Terminator movie where someone wants to dump their pain on the cyborg assassin Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a memorable quote, he says, Talk to the hand. As we read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, we discover that Jesus did have amazing empathy with individual people and their suffering. In addition, we find that Jesus invited people to process their emotional issues with him. There is never a time when Jesus says, talk to the hand. We find that Jesus really heard people s shock, anger, fear, loss or trauma. Jesus empathy when a friend dies In John 11, we have this story Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." When Jesus got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Mary came to where Jesus was and said, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her sobbing...a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?" "Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept. They said, "Look how deeply he loved him." (John 11:1-36, The Message)

9 9 Earlier that day, when Jesus arrived at Bethany, Martha had heard from Jesus an incredible statement of hope: I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world. (John 11:25-27, The Message) Knowing that God has real empathy in the middle of our suffering is good news. It s also encouraging to be given hope. Does Jesus make a positive difference to the issues of life...or is it all just talk? Jesus arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me." Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, wrapped from head to toe, and with a cloth over his face. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose." (John 11:1-44, The Message)

10 10 God is with us through our relationship with Jesus Lazarus, Mary, Martha and Jesus disciples proved from their experience that God can be trusted and that he is with us. He invites us into a relationship of security. He makes this promise to each person God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:5),6 As people in pain, at times the truth that God is with us may not be what we are feeling. When we are caught up in our suffering or (you fill in the blank), we can loose sight of feeling God s love. We can feel so alone and hurting. Does God know what that feels like? He does. During his crucifixion, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) Jesus has been there.

11 11 How we see God influences the way you and I handle suffering and pain Pain, suffering, injustice and abuse can leave us feeling that it must be someone s fault. We know it s never our fault, we ll just shift the blame so we give God one huge mouthful... It s all YOUR fault God! There is a long line of people going back thousands of years who ve blamed God. Job s story Job is a man in the Old Testament section of the Bible. We re told he was a wealthy man 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels and a huge staff of servants. Job was the most influential man in his region. Then it all went bad. Disaster struck him unexpectedly. Bang! Bang! Bang came the news. All of your livestock have died or been stolen! Many of your servants got killed by lightning strikes! Job, your home collapsed and many of your children have been killed! Then Job got a skin disease, leaving him painful sores all over his body. Job knew what it feels like when tragedy like bushfire, flood or a health crisis strikes us. We feel shattered.

12 12 In our pain, we can yell at God, It s YOUR fault! Job did: I feel worn down. God, you have wasted me totally me and my family! People take one look at me and gasp. And God just stands there and lets them do it, lets wicked people do what they want with me. (Job 16:7-12, The Message) At the heart of our pain is a belief that we can t trust God. We start believing the lie: he isn t good and he is punishing us. In walking down that path, we re conned into a false view of God.. In the middle of our overwhelming pain, loss and suffering, it s really easy to believe our emotions alone. Reflection: Have you found this in your life? How did you cope? Job recovered his balance when God came to him. Heard his pain. Job found out that God s enemy Satan was behind all the tragedy Job experienced. How can we get balance when our world turns upside down and pain engulfs our emotions and thinking? Do we accept the illusion of what I feel is the truth?

13 13 It all begins with a love story. God acting to share with all mankind the love, joy, hope and freedom Father, Son and Spirit experienced. Long before God laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:4-6 (The Message) We re adopted into the centre of God s love in a circle of relationship Father Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32 Jesus Holy Spirit

14 14 It s common for us to blame God for our suffering and tell God to fix the problem. In our pain, we can miss reality. What do I mean? Imagine you ve been booked by the police for speeding. We go through the cycle of emotions: shock, denial, anger, it's not my fault! Mankind does the same thing: we blame God for our stuff. Paul Young, author of The Shack, says: People often embrace fear, pain, power and rights in our relationships. We center our lives around things that leave us feeling empty. We re addicted to power and the illusion of security that power offers. When a disaster happens, we ll turn against the false powers we trusted. In our disappointment, we ll either become softened toward God ( Help God, I need to be rescued ), or we become bolder in our independence ( You ve let me down, so go away God, I m better off on my own.) The Shack is the best book I know to help us get answers on suffering. It s an honest, incredibly helpful story. Ten million copies!

15 15 Life quickly teaches us to look at everything from our perspective. When we do that, we falsely see God as the one who abandons us in our struggles and someone we can t trust. We decide that if God causes suffering, then he really can t be good, so we walk away from a relationship with him. So WHAT has God done to fix things? He could have sat around and just had another beer with his mates. Instead, God took action. God doesn't send us an or form a taskforce. He comes himself into this world. Maximum vulnerability God comes as a baby to a down-to-earth couple. God with us.

16 16 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; with out him nothing was made that has been made. Jesus was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14) In his actions and teaching, Jesus showed people the reality of God s character. He healed the sick Fed the hungry Spoke against injustice Raised the dead Loved the marginalized Set people free The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favour. (Luke 4:18,19)

17 17 Jesus Christ had a clear purpose: "I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10 Jesus declared that he came to "give his life to rescue many people." Mark 10:45. In John s account, Jesus says he came so that, "those who believed in him would have eternal life." John 3:16 Rescuing people from suffering, pain and death sounds great, BUT it is costly. Every time we have a disaster, and a man or woman puts their life on the line to rescue someone, it costs! Aussies witnessed the rescue efforts of many during the January floods. One dramatic story has its focus on Hannah and her mum Kathryn, who were trapped in their car by Toowoomba s flash flood. Their car was pushed into a power pole by the eight metre raging torrent. The shocked women climbed onto their car roof, but were washed away. A photographer caught the moment as Hannah was swept away and it was feared mum and daughter had drowned.

18 18 Now the good news... Steven Seefeld and Jason Iacono arrived on site, minutes before the flood. "We were watching when Hannah came past us." With outstretched arms, Steven and Jason managed to grab Hannah s hands and haul her to safety. "Once we got her over, she managed to splutter out that her mum was still out there. "We just managed to see her mother being washed down the street. She was right out in the middle of it." Both men waded out into the water to reach Kathryn, who d grabbed a power pole. "We brought her in," Steven said (photo). "A couple more seconds and she wouldn't have had the energy to hang on, and she would have been gone. Mother and daughter were so glad to be together! Reflection: How does that story impact you? Have you been rescued? Have you rescued some one else. How did you cope emotionally? Rescue efforts come in many ways. A slice of chocolate cake to weary workers in the floods goes down pretty well! Let s look at the ultimate rescue.

19 19 Jesus came to rescue us How can a man lying on a Cross rescue me? And how is the death of Jesus Christ relevant to my suffering and life today? Jesus God in human form knew that man had taken a relationship with God and turned it into religion. That is never God s idea he hates religion. It is a pathetic substitute of rules to give the illusion of salvation. In reality, it is a relationship with Jesus that brings us real life, hope, freedom and salvation. And God will go down any road to help us meet Jesus and get rescued. However, the price of our rescue was beyond awesome. In his public life, Jesus made it clear to his followers what was about to happen to him. Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. He will be handed over to the Romans...they will kill him. In three days he will rise, alive." (Luke 18:31-34, The Message)

20 20 Everything Jesus said would happen occurred. His betrayal, arrest, trial, harsh flogging and crucifixion. The images of Jesus death although so shocking can become familiar. We may miss the full reality of all he did on that Cross for you and I. It was our pains he carried our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on him self, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. (Isaiah 53:4-6, The Message) On that Cross, it was God suffering for you and I.

21 21 Reflection: How does the death of Jesus impact you? What response do you have to the fact that God chose to suffer for us on the Cross? The Ultimate Rescue It s staggering, but true. God became a man and took on him self all the judgment, sin, suffering and death that belonged to mankind. He choose to pay the total price of justice. We deserved death, however God s nature is goodness and love. He went beyond the justice we deserve to suffer for us and rescue us from our fears, emptiness, religion and pain. This story has a happy ending... for Jesus and you and I As the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it.

22 22 The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. The women, full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. (Matthew 28:1-9, The Message) On the Cross, Jesus Christ took on himself the punishment for all our rebellion against God and selfishness towards other people past, present, and future. For every person. It was all dumped on Jesus, and he was the perfect rescuer. He also took on himself all our suffering, pain and injustice. Three days after Jesus terrible crucifixion, the Easter miracle happened. Christ conquered rebellion and death. He rose physically from the dead as it had no power over Him. God proved in his actions his amazing love for every person. Jesus suffers for us Jesus suffers with us

23 23 At the worst point in the flood crisis, Anna Bligh said thousands of people in SE Queensland faced "unbelievable agony." The Premier fought back tears as she talked from her heart: "I want us to remember who we are," she said. "We are the people they breed tough north of the border. We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again. Together we can pull through this.'' It was a defining speech. Choose to make a transition from being a victim, to being an overcomer. Make the choice to act together, and we ll make it. Easter is God acting so that you and I can make a positive choice. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) The reality that God is able to work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn t mean he caused the tragedy. If our perception is that God was the cause of the suffering, we ll start thinking God isn t good and can t be trusted. Human history has multiple examples of where God works to bring life out of death; to bring freedom out of our brokenness and pain and turn darkness into new life. Invite Jesus to step into your life with love.

24 Life can be incredibly painful We all have choices to make we can choose to stay in our place of suffering, or open our life to some light. To real hope and breakthrough. Interested? This booklet is one starting point to help with the issues we all face from pain and suffering. Welcome to the adventure of discovering hope. Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group Acknowledgements: Photo s Passion movie, internet, author Booklet 2011, Ross Wakeley