Pain

Pain – And the problem we have with it.

1 Peter 2

¹⁹ For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

 

We think as humans that pain should not exist if there is really an omnipotent God that is all loving. 

We are told that all things are possible with God.

So why is there pain?

There is a reason but it is not something that is right on the surface of scripture.  It is not something we can open our bible and turn to a verse and there it is plain as day the reason pain exist.

We have to become the theologians we are asked to be.  You may say what is a theologian?  A theologian is one who studies the concepts of God. 

You all should be doing this every time you open your bible.

So lets put on our theologian hats and dig into this.

We know that God gave us free will, which means we can chose to do whatever we want.  If this is so then is God going to stop you from actually following through on doing what you desire to do?  If He did then this would be withholding free will which would contradict a righteous God. 

We also know that God established the ‘Law of Nature” in which all things abide by.  These laws were designed for those things created without the ability to reason. 

We ask why would He create the “Law of Nature” if He did not intend man to live by it?  But lets take look at the world in which we live in.  We live in a time and place where we have the ability to talk to one another through air waves which is “matter”, we travel about our towns that are made of concrete, wood, asphalt, etc, which is “matter”.  We are made of flesh, muscle, blood and water which is “matter”.  “Matter” does not have the ability to reason does it?  So “matter” would have been without limits if God did not establish them, this is the Law of nature.   If “matter” had no law to follow we would be unable to exist as we do or at all because every time it did not suit the needs of a soul it would change. 

So in saying this we know that not all "matter" agrees with each person all the time because we have free will to choose how we interact with it.  We have free will on how we use it whether for good or evil.  We can use a piece of wood to build a house with or we can use that same piece of wood to kill someone with. 

So at the Fall when the choose was given to Adam, how was he going to use what God had given him; he chose evil.  At that moment Pain was introduced to man. 

So you might be saying to yourself as we often tend to do that is to blame someone else for our misfortunes; that do to one man’s choice to do evil we are all to suffer? 

But lets think about this; were we not all conceived from Adam?  When Adam chose to do his will and not God’s will he chose to then follow the “Law of Nature”.

Man was intended to have authority over the earth and all living things.

Genesis 1: ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

He was to live above the “Law of Nature” not under it.

So this is why Pain is a part of our life.  In everything we do, there is a possibility of pain to be experienced.  There is no exception when considering our “cure” salvation or our Discipleship walk.

 God says to be "cured" to work out our salvation, we need to:

1.     Surrender our ‘Self-will”

2.     Surrender our “Self-sufficiency”

3.     Surrender to do God’s will

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to our conscious, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world!”  - CS Lewis

First to surrender our “Self-will”, (it is all about me), is to be shattered. This involves pain.  Remember “breaking” a child of a bad habit.  Maybe you were that child. 

·        All is well if it is about me needs to be broken

·        Retribution needs to be God’s – bad people ought to suffer

·        Vindictive passion needs to be broken – “I will teach Him”

 Second is to Surrender our “Self-Sufficiency”. 

“God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full” – St Augustine

As long as we have any other resort we will not seek God.  If your life and family stand between the recognition of your need of Him, He will make that life less sweet.

Honest, Kind People who are self-sufficient can expect misfortune to fall on them!

 

Thirdly is Surrender to do God’s will – Abraham was tested in this manner with Isaac as a sacrifice.

Martyrdom is the supreme enacting and perfection of Christianity regarding this surrender.

 

Christian renunciation – (abandonment of a right) does not mean “Apathy”.  But A strong will accompanied with a perfect readiness for obedience is.

Shelly was a mother of two with a degree in finances and was taking care of her mother.  She gave of herself to her family all the time.  She was married to Joe who worked a full time job and was layman at their church.  Shelly depended on Joe ‘s job for their financial needs and her abilities in investing and saving to keep their life style comfortable.  But as time went on Shelly started to feel anxious about the house hold budget.  Taxes were continuing to go up, bills were getting higher and things started to become tighter and tighter.  She began to feel the pressure of the household budget on her shoulders.  Joe became ill and had to go on medical leave.  The house hold began to spiral out of control.  The anxiety became to much and shelly had a nervous breakdown.  As she lay in the hospital she began to ask God why was this happening to them?  Joe was a leader in the church, I have given myself to the family and now this.  What a mess.  I just do not know what to do. 

What am I suppose to do?

That is the Problem, God responded!  I have had something to give you for a long time and your hands have been to full.  You have looked to yourself for everything.  When was the last time you seeked my guidance in your daily life?  You waited until you experienced pain before I got your attention.  I want you to be mine.  I will not take anything less than complete surrender.  But you have free will to choose just remember if you choose your will then you are choosing the “Law of Nature” to control the outcome of your decisions.  

But if you will surrender to my will you are choosing wisdom and righteousness to control the outcome of your decisions.