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The
Problem of Pain
Pastor
Albert Kang
A swollen sciatic nerve caused me to spend the last few days in bed. The only way for me to sleep without pain was to pile up lots of pillows and lie face down upon them. I had plenty of time to think about God. I prayed and asked Him to take away the pain and heal me completely. He had used my ministry to bring healings to others. Not just ordinary healings but miraculous ones. Why then am I not healed? Do I lack the faith to believe? I don’t think so! Do I believe that God can heal me? Absolutely. Can He heal me NOW? Yes! Why is God not doing it? I do not have the answer. All I know is that the promises of God are as valid as ever and I have to respect God’s sovereignty and His timing. My faith should never be based upon my situation or physical condition but upon who God really is. He is still my God and Christ is still my Lord and Savior. Nothing is going to change that fact. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I have inherited a genetic disorder known as Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is the arthritis of the spine. It is an autoimmune disease in which my immunity system considers my spine to be a foreign body and attacks its joints. I did not realize the seriousness of this disabling disease until it caused me to develop a crack in my spine some thirty years ago. Since then my condition has aggravated and as I grow older, pain has become a serious problem. When pain strikes, I have to use a walking stick to move around. However during the last two years, except for an occasional twinge, I was living a pretty normal life.
A few weeks ago, I foolishly ran after a bus and that caused the left sciatic nerve to be inflamed. The pain came for a while and left. Last Friday it returned with a vengeance. It was like someone stabbing me with a sharp spear in my left thigh and lower back. It became a painful ordeal just to stand, sit and even lie down. My only consolation was that Jesus understood my pain. He really did because He suffered even worse pain than what I was going through.
There are countless theological and philosophical theories about why there are pain and sufferings in this world. However when pain occurs, one tends to throw all these theories out of the window. Only the presence of Christ suffices. The comfort of His holy presence means more than all the combined volumes of theories. It is only after the pain has subsided then one has the leisure to discuss and debate about it. The famous Christian writer, C. S. Lewis once wrote “If only my toothache would stop, I could write another chapter about Pain.” Since the pain has now lessened for me and I am now able to sit in front of the computer, without the sciatic nerve complaining, I would like to reflect upon the problem of pain and suffering in our world.
The Bible tells us that when Sin came into this world, the whole natural order went into a convulsion. From then the earth was cursed and sufferings came to mankind. The Atheists use the problem of sufferings to knock at the fact that God exists. The common argument is that if God is good and caring, then why does He allow sufferings and pain? By allowing these, God is therefore either not good enough or that He does not really care. The other argument is that God must be weak and not able to prevent all the sufferings. To the Atheists, the biblical concept of a loving and powerful God is not compatible with the existence of sufferings, sicknesses, diseases, wars and natural disasters. They insist that this incongruence proves there is no God. If there were a God, He would be either an uncaring god or an evil god.
In my opinion, the Atheists are almost naïve in using the problem of pain as an excuse for denying the existence of God. What they never address are all the congruous things in the universe that point to the existence of an intelligent creator. Not to mention that they can never satisfactorily answer the questions, “How can something comes out of nothing?” “How this little ‘spaceship’ called ‘earth’ spins its way around the sun in the absolute vacuum of the universe and still supports life?” “How can there be congruous systems in the universe without a system designer?” “What is the meaning of life?”
In the midst of such atheistic ideas, our confidence in a caring and loving God is not shaken. Only God with His infinite wisdom knows why He has allowed pain and sufferings to exist. His mind is beyond our limited understanding. If we were to compare our minds with the infinite mind of God it would be like comparing the combined light of a bunch of lighted matchsticks with that of the sun. Where do we even begin? This is not a copout so as to avoid explaining why there are pain and sufferings. It is not a Christian cliché either. Let’s face it - there are many things that we just do not know.
Are we still not struggling to understand everything that is found upon this little ball of dirt called “earth”? Scientists tell us that there are billions of planets like earth out there in the wide universe. If all the scientists and astronomers cannot even grasp the massive size of God’s created universe, then how are we to comprehend the infinite wisdom of the Creator God?
Man will always have his questions. Can good things really come from bad things? Can my pain add value to my life? Can God really turn tragedies into triumphs? I am reminded of a little boy who sits on the floor and watches his grandmother embroiders. All he sees is the underside of the embroidery that looks like a whole meaningless mess of tangled threads. In his little young mind, he wonders why his grandmother is working on such an ugly thing. However, after the grandmother finishes and shows the topside of her handiwork, only then does he realize what a beautiful piece of work it is. Like the little boy, I sometime find it hard to accept that this pain would produce something beautiful. I want to tear at the mess and have it rearranged and stitched the way I want. Yet, my past experiences with my God overrule this desire. I know that God must have been doing something beautiful with this pain and He would show me the beautiful side when the time is ripe.
Our faith is not passive. It is definitely not fatalistic. We should never just throw up our hands and not do anything about the pain. If there are ways to relieve the pain, we should do so. It is God who gives us the brains and wisdom. Pain by itself has no virtue. However if pain is able to become the catalyst to bring forth positive results then it does make a difference.
One of the bravest women who overcame her pain and sufferings is Joni Eareckson Tada. I have followed her success story for almost thirty years. In 1967, Joni had asked God to make her useful for the kingdom of God. However that year, she became paralyzed from neck down due to a diving accident. In her mind, she was questioning God as to what kind of answer was that? Being a quadriplegic, she would never be able to serve God. After 35 years, God has proved her wrong. He is not only able to bless her life but makes it much more fruitful than those of most normal people.
Joni did seek for divine healing
and she even attended the healing services conducted by the famous “healing”
evangelist, Katherine Khulman. Even though she was not healed, she did not lapse
into despair. Instead, she took what was left of her paralyzed body and made it
useful to God. She taught herself to paint with a brush between her teeth and
produced some of the most detailed and beautiful paintings. Today, her paintings
are much sought after by art collectors. She also types with a stick in her
mouth and produces volumes of best sellers. There is even a full-length feature
film on how God helped her recreated her own broken life. This movie, entitled
“JONI”, has been screened around the world in 15 languages. She founded a
ministry known as “Joni and Friends” and today it is positively affecting
the lives of thousands of poor and disabled people. Joni
has received The American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award; The
Courage Award from the Courage Rehabilitation Center; The Award of Excellence
from the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center; The Victory Award from the
National Rehabilitation Hospital and The Golden Word Award from the
International Bible Society. Today she is much sought after as a conference
speaker in USA and around the world. Joni wrote this in one of her books,
“When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings
Matter to the Almighty”, “By
itself suffering does no good. But when we see it as the thing between God and
us, it has meaning. Wedged in the crux - the cross - suffering becomes a
transaction. The cross is a place of transaction. It is the place where power
happens between God and us.”
Suffering alone is only but suffering. However when it is placed in
God’s hands, it becomes a means of blessings instead of curse. Divine healing
may or may not occur but a miracle is definitely in the making. Like a crushed
rose that emits sweet fragrance, God can used our broken lives and make
something beautiful out of them. Our pain can indeed become the catalyst for
God’s miracles.
Another inspiring story that touches me is that of a missionary couple. Charles Cowman and his wife, Lettie, were missionaries to Japan from 1901 to 1917. With two other friends, they founded Oriental Mission Society (OMS). After years of serving, Charles became so sick that the couple had to return to their home in California. For many years, as he lingered in ill health, his loving wife faithfully compiled and wrote a daily devotional journal. She would then encourage him by reading it out loud to him. The journal was a collection of inspiring articles, messages, poems, songs and also her own chronicle as a caregiver and God’s servant. In her writing, Lettie revealed how God had led her from the desert of her grief to the streams in the desert that gave her real joy.
In 1925, she published this journal as a devotional entitled “Streams in the Desert” and it became a great blessing to millions of Christians. It has become so popular that it went through 19 editions and is being read by Christians in every continent. Incidentally, my first devotional book was Lettie’s “Streams in the Desert”. (Now you can read it on the Internet -http://www.backtothebible.org/devotions/classics/streams).
Charles and Lettie Cowman would, never in their wildest dream, expect such blessings to come out of their sufferings. Today they have gone to be with the Lord but the devotionals that they left behind are still blessing countless people. It is only God’s wisdom that could convert such a tragedy into triumph.
I am convinced that this pain that I am going through will not be in vain. At least for now, it is making me dependent upon the grace of God. Every morning when I wake up without pain, I am thanking God. Every painless step that I take I am thanking God. Every opportunity to bless someone with words of encouragement, I am thanking God. I pray that I may learn to be as faithful as Joni Eareckson Tada and the Cowmans. I pray that I will not lament about my situation but make every effort to use whatever I have to serve God and His kingdom.