I spend quite a lot of time trying to avoid trouble. I think the majority of us do the same. It’s self preservation. Maybe if I say and do all the right things then life will go along smoothly. I’ll somehow avoid all the problems I see others experiencing. However, this isn’t reality. Pardon me if this is a shock, but life doesn’t work that way. In the middle of a crisis, my soul cries out to God in agony. Is there any purpose within the pain?
Can you relate? Out of nowhere an event happens that turns your world upside down: an auto accident, a job layoff or a diagnosis of cancer. Whatever the situation, it’s unexpected. No one could plan for the problem. We feel that our only recourse is to sit in sack cloth and ashes like Job and ask: Why me? What caused this disaster? We cry out to God but our questions are met with silence.
Chapter after chapter, Job implores God to explain why his good life suddenly turned into tragedy. Job’s friends lay the blame on him. Surely the disaster must be due to his own behavior. But God never confirms this. He reveals His majesty and power to Job, though He never answers why. Perhaps Job asked God the wrong question.
When Jesus saw a man blind from birth, his disciples asked him who sinned, the man or his parents, causing him to be born blind. Then Jesus answered them.
You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.
John 9:3 The Message Bible
In every bad situation, we have a choice. Seek blame or seek gain. Rather than ask ‘why’, we have the opportunity to turn the question around to ask ‘what’. What am I supposed to learn from this? What is God doing through this tragedy for good?
I don’t believe God purposely causes us pain to teach us lessons. However, when trials do occur, He will use them to further His work in us. One fact is for sure. We live in the middle of a battlefield where evil and disease abound. Trouble is inevitable. Are we victims or victors in the battle? Do we allow trials to throw us into a pit of despair or do we use our trials as opportunities for growth? God gives us a choice.
In no way, am I negating the need for grief. Grieving during times of tragedy or loss is a necessary part of healing. Everyone needs a time of mourning. But resolve not to remain in this dark land forever. There is purpose within the pain, if we choose to seek it.
Out of a life of childhood abuse, a patient of mine decided to volunteer at a local hospital to counsel and support abused children. Her first steps were difficult. Even so, she pushed through her fear to help others like herself. Countless children benefited from her gentle touch and understanding, and the healing she found on the other side was priceless.
Finding purpose within the pain, is sometimes elusive. It’s easy to question how any good could ever come from tragedies like abuse or the death of a loved one. But just when you least expect it, a situation will arrive. You are the only one with understanding or insight for this particular issue. At that moment, you know intuitively what to say and do to help the person experiencing pain. This then is your purpose.
While we would never freely choose to walk a traumatic journey, there’s always purpose within the pain. If we choose to seek and recognize what God is doing though our pain then our eyes are opened to our role in His magnificent plan.
We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
C S Lewis, The Problem of Pain
