by Byron Yawn
Most Christians don’t quite know how to handle the conflict of God and suffering – personally, or biblically. The unrelenting emphasis of “Happiness and How to Have It” in church has left us unprepared to deal with reality. When human tragedy wakes us up from idealism – we fumble around for clarity. Our knee jerk response is to recite platitudes. Verses. Slogans. Book recommendations. We walk into hospital rooms thick with the sob of tragedy and offer ridiculous sound bites. We stand in line at funeral homes and say the most insensitive things to widows. When confronted by skeptics we’re overcome by theological stage fright. Our answers sound like we’re getting God off the hook and apologizing for Christianity.
Fact is, we don’t have a comprehensive explanation (nor do we need to) for sorrow and it’s innumerable intrusions into people’s lives. The Bible never provides an answer beyond the basic reality of sin’s effects. This is a fallen world. Read Job lately? Despite the perfect opportunity to do so, God never explains Himself or why he allows suffering and pain. He merely explains the fact that he is under no requirement to explain Himself.
When a parent loses a child and asks me why God would allow it – If I’m honest – I’ll confess my ignorance. Fact is – I don’t know. Fact is – I wish it never happened. I may know what can come of the pain – the glory of God. I may know what the effect might be – sanctification. I may offer hope as to surviving it – eternity. But, I cannot be so arrogant as to explain what God has planned for every moment of suffering in every life. It’s the patented answer we too often drop which makes us seem unkind. There are no patented answers. Only time will reveal such things. Sometimes even time is mute. My duty as a pastor is not to provide a sufficient answer when the broken human heart is demanding it. My duty is to describe a God who can be trusted as good even when there are no satisfactory answers. We’re better off weeping with those who weep than opening our mouths and theorizing about the source of someone’s pain.
But, I don’t think the absence of “satisfactory” answers should make the Christian shrink back from facing the hard question of pain. This is especially true when speaking with unbelievers. To the contrary, pain and suffering are constant points of contact for the Gospel. If you pull on suffering’s roots they all unearth the same reality – things are wrong. Very wrong. Someone once wrote, “Pain is the rumor of transcendence.” Translation? Pain and suffering are a constant reminder that something has gone terribly wrong on this planet. This life is a shadow of a short-lived ideal long ago shattered by a rebellious humanity. Suffering and pain are merely its jagged remains. Everyone – even the most skeptical – knows human existence needs to be corrected. This is the insertion point for Christ. I can get to the Gospel from here every time. Pain and suffering open the door. Suffering, sin’s general effect, is the ultimate point of contact for Christians since every human being suffers. The Gospel promises that the tangled mess of humanity’s rebellion will be cleaned up. Christ died to deliver us from sin’s ultimate consequence. It’s not a detailed explanation for the purpose behind every pain ever felt, but Jesus is the final answer to pain.
See attached interview of author Nancy Guthrie and her amazing story of God’s grace in suffering.
Read the full article at: The Cripplegate
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