WHERE IS GOD IN OUR PAIN AND SUFFERING?

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1 WHERE IS GOD IN OUR PAIN AND SUFFERING? This study is written by Marilyn Hurst, Apologetics Course Facilitator / Foundations Team leader. Leaders: PLEASE SEND OUT THE PARTICIPANTS MATERIAL FOR YOUR GROUP MEMBER TO READ PRIOR TO CONNECT GROUP MEETING. Also, please allow more time for this study due to the length and the sensitivity of the topic. READ ROMANS 8: 35 37; PSALM 34:18 The single biggest obstacle for spiritual seekers is the reality of pain and suffering in this world. It is also the reason why many good faithful Christians initially become distant from God, numbed with pain, watching helplessly as their faith dwindles and crashes out of a sense of sheer abandonment. How could a good and loving God allow the inconceivable horrors of suffering and death around us? Why do the innocent suffer? Why is there so much injustice in this world? Where is God when it hurts? Why didn t He stop it? Does He not care? If only villains got cancers and broken backs, if only cheaters and crooks got heart disease, there would have been some sort of justice in this world. Once an agnostic, now a faith filled believer, Christian Sheldon Vanauken wrote But as it is, a sweet tempered child lies dying of a brain tumour, a happy young wife sees her husband and child killed before her eyes by a drunk driver; and we scream soundlessly at the stars, Why? Why? How could a good God, a loving God do that? How could he even let it happen? And no answer comes from the indifferent stars. We read about the devastating stories about the Holocaust, about the killing fields of Cambodia, the genocide of Rwanda and more recently the savagery of Islamic State as they kill and behead the innocents and our hearts ache in despair. Upon the death of his wife, when C.S. Lewis was still an atheist he wrote, Meanwhile, where is God? but go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is in vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. The existence of pain and suffering are powerful accusations against God or so it seems. The question is, however, does the presence of suffering mean the absence of God? Shall we humans assume no responsibilities? And what about that age old serpent, the Devil? What role does he play in these tragedies?

2 THE LOVE OF GOD & HUMAN FREE WILL READ GENESIS 50:20 First of all we must look at how God intended the world to be. God created Adam and Eve to live in a perfect world where there was no suffering or death. They were provided with everything they needed to live and God only asked in return that they tend the garden and have fellowship with Him. God has existed from eternity past as the Father, Son and Spirit, together in a relationship of perfect love. So love is the highest value in the universe. And when God decided to create human beings, he wanted us to experience that love. But to give us the ability to love, God had to give us free will to decide whether to love or not to love. Why? Because love always involves a choice. But unfortunately, we humans have abused our free will by rejecting God and walking away from him. And that has resulted in the introduction of evil and suffering into the world. Some people ask, "Couldn't God have foreseen all of this?" and no doubt he did. But look at it this way. Many of you are parents. Even before you had children, couldn't you foresee that there was the very real possibility they may suffer disappointment or pain or heartache in life, or that they might even hurt you and walk away from you? Of course but you still had kids. Why? Because you knew there was also the potential for tremendous joy and deep love and great meaning. God knew we'd rebel against him, but he also knew many people would choose to follow him and have a relationship with him and spend eternity in heaven with him. And it was all worth it for that, even though it would cost his Son great pain and suffering to achieve our redemption. Satan is called the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), which means that we should probably take him seriously. No doubt he does play havoc in the world by manoeuvring a Hitler or Saddam Hussein into murderous power. But he does this only within God s appointed limits. Satan is a major reason for humanity s suffering and persecution. The apostle Peter describes the suffering of Christians like this: your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world (1 Peter 5:8 9).

3 THE GOD WHO SUFFERS READ ISAIAH 53: 2 10 God s answer to the problem of suffering is that he came right down into it. There is no depth of agony and helplessness we can experience in this life that God doesn t understand. Prominent British Pastor John Stott whilst acknowledging that suffering is the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith said this: I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross in the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of this world. And in my imagination, I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross of Christ. A Bear, A Trap, A Hunter, and God Imagine a bear in a trap and a hunter, who out of compassion wants to free him. He tries to win the bears confidence, but he can t do it, so he shoots the bear full of drugs. The bear however thinks this is an attack and the hunter is trying to cause him pain and kill him. He doesn t realise that this is being done out of mercy. Then in order to get the bear out of the trap, the hunter has to push him further into the trap to release the tension on the spring. The bear semi conscious and delirious with intense pain is convinced that the hunter is his enemy who is out to cause him pain and suffering. But the bear is wrong. He reaches this conclusion because he s not a human being. God does the same to us sometimes and we can t comprehend his ways any more than the bear can comprehend the intentions of the hunter. As the bear could have trusted the hunter, so we can trust God. Are we broken? He was broken like bread for us. Are we despised? He was despised and rejected of men. Do we cry out that we can t take it anymore? He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Do people betray us? He was sold out himself. Do people turn from us? They hid their faces from him as from a leper. So the answer to the question, where is God is our pain and suffering? It is this He has descended into all our hells. He was gassed in the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz, He is ravaged in the humanitarian crisis of Syria, He is starving in the famines of Africa, He is being mocked with the persecuted church, He is grieving with the mother who loses her baby, He is in anguish alongside the grieving husband or wife when their spouse decides to leave, His weeping echoes on the empty walls, at the side of that isolated and lonely senior citizen. He is right in the midst of it in the blood, guts, tears, open wounds and brokenness, right there with us, holding our hands in the deepest and darkest of places.

4 DISCUSSIONS PASTORAL QUESTIONS 1. What are your thoughts after reading the first three sections? 2. How have difficulties and challenges, and even pain shaped your walk with God? (Get someone from the group to share a personal story) Every instance of pain and suffering contain the opportunity for good. Godly character and unshakeable faith gets formed through painful experiences. God may accomplish a greater good for and in you through a temporary suffering. God uses suffering to refine, perfect, strengthen, and keep us from falling (Psalms 66:8-9; Hebrews 2:10). Suffering produces intimacy with God (Job 42:5). Suffering gives us compassion for others who are hurting, enabling us to minister more effectively and comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Suffering teaches us humility (2 Corinthians 12:7). THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS 3. Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no good people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible suffering we could experience in life is merciful compared to what our sins deserve. A better question would be Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people? Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people God still loves every one of us. He died for all people, even those who reject Him. Jesus truly was innocent (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet He endured the cross. 4. Discuss Revelation 21: 3 4, in the light of our suffering in this life? God will wipe away every tear in eternity A place of eternal happiness. No suffering, sickness, death or pain.

5 APPLICATION Be There For Those Who Suffer Your presence around a person who is suffering is the most important thing. Often time s words of comfort are not even needed. Suffering prepares us to minister compassion, mercy and tenderness to those in pain. Feeling isolated is one of the hardest parts of suffering. The comfort of those who have known that same pain is inexpressible. It feels like a warm blanket being draped around a person s soul. If you are the one who is suffering, do not suffer in silence reach out to your family, friends and church community. Pray For Them Pray for the millions who still suffer, whose lives have been touched by tragedy. Pray for your family and friends who are going through hard times weep with them. Pray for the persecuted church. These are the ones who need to be comforted with the love of Jesus, His joy, happiness, and the promise that one day God will wipe away every tear in the life to come. The Value of Perspective There is no such thing as pointless pain in the life of the child of God. Suffering almost always bring us closer to God and increases our dependence on him. We experience God at a deeper more profound level. The value of perspective is like a sweet balm to a person s soul, because it shows people that their suffering was not in vain. Give Generously Giving to those in desperate need honours God and is an expression of our gratitude for all the abundant blessings we have experienced in our life. Reach Out To Others Serve God and His people. Be conscious of the people in your life and around you. You could be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are in pain. Go beyond hi-bye greetings and have real conversations with the people around you. Stop and listen to them.