What is God’s view of pain, sickness and suffering? How does that differ from prevailing views in our culture? How should someone who is chronically sick look at these things? What is an appropriate response to those well-intentioned people who repeatedly ask, “Are Holly and Alyssa feeling better?” when you don’t want to disappoint them that they are not better, but perhaps even worse? This week, I’d like to wrestle with some of these issues.

There is a strong message in our culture, from a variety of sources, that sickness and pain are bad, to be removed, alleviated, anesthetized, inoculated and overcome at all cost. We take pills, get shots, visit specialists, go through counseling and therapy, use various substances, all to remove pain. Some of these may be appropriate, but I’m afraid our culture has elevated health, wellness and comfort to the point of idolatry. Many listen to popular preachers who communicate a strong message that if you have enough faith in God, he will take away all your suffering and bless you here and now with physical and material blessings, as if this is the goal. It is a powerful and enticing theme inside and outside the church, that suffering is evil and must be removed. People go to church and expect smiles and happy people when inside many are struggling profoundly. What is God’s view about all of this?

The Bible makes clear in Gen.1-2 that God created the world good, perfect, with no suffering or death. This is also where the Bible says we are heading, in the new heavens and new earth when all is re-created and restored back to God’s perfect design. Rev.21:4 reminds us that God will wipe away every tear, death shall be removed, as will mourning, crying and pain. In Genesis 3, we see what went terribly wrong. Sin entered the world through rebellion against God, and with it came the consequences of sin… pain, struggle, sickness and death. Genesis 4 shows how this was passed on from generation to generation, and the biblical record reveals the decline of man, not only into sin and wickedness, but also into the consequences of that sin – pain, suffering and death.

The Bible is replete with God’s message that while he grieves at the condition of man, he uses it to accomplish good purposes. Although not his original design, yet he “causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” (Rom.8:28). As I’ve been listening to John Piper preach on this verse, he reminds us that if those two conditions are met (loving God and called according to his purpose), then there can be an assurance that God will work even the dark, painful elements of life out for good. Our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, endured much suffering, and Peter makes clear in 1 Peter 2:21, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” In fact, suffering is a major theme running through the book of 1 Peter, and also through all of the New Testament. Jesus voluntarily humbled himself by becoming a weak, suffering man (Is.53, Phil.2:5-8), even enduring the psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual pain and shame of the cross, which was all part of God’s plan (Hebr. 12:2).

We must remember that biblical suffering is not only referring to persecution for our faith, but Piper makes clear that this is any kind of suffering and pain we experience as we follow Christ. Holly and Alyssa are struggling profoundly with their sicknesses, and yet they continue in their unshakable faith in God. Certainly there are times of questioning, crying, discouragement and struggle, but as I watch them, I see a deepening trust in God, a maturing of their faith through the refining fires of adversity and hardship, a depth and strength that is noticeably absent in those who do not suffer. Holly shared with me today, “I would not have chosen to go through this sickness. But I am thankful because it has brought me into a closer relationship with God and I know him in ways that I never could have before.”

I believe that a key theme in the Bible is that God allows and even ordains suffering because it is a primary way for us to grow stronger in our faith, to develop godly character, and to draw our perspective into alignment with Christ’s (Rom.5:1-5; James 1:2-4; etc.). I’ve certainly seen this in my own life. It was through the “dark night of the soul,” times when I struggled most intensely, that God helped me to grow the most. Ever notice how you never hear people say they grew significantly in their faith and character through times when everything was perfect and comfortable and happy? Times of sickness, loneliness, abandonment, despair, intense pain, all have a way of reminding us about the many things that are not important and the One who is most important. Of course, there is suffering that comes from our own sinful choices, and obviously these poor decisions should not be embraced. Yet when we realize how we have wandered from God and His will, and cry out to him in anguish over our sin, he is ready to cleanse, forgive and move us beyond the muck and filth, moving us forward in our faith journey.

I also want to make clear that there is not a direct correlation between every sickness we experience and God’s judgment for a sin we’ve committed. The man born blind in John 9 is a strong case as Jesus says this man’s blindness was not because of his or his parents’ sin, but “so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (9:3) I’ve been reading Job in my quiet times, and Job’s unwise friends try to charge Job with some wrongdoing as the cause of his agony. Holly and Alyssa are not sick because they did something to deserve that sickness. They are experiencing the tragic consequences of a fallen world, but the point is that God wants to show his goodness and display his glory through their sickness.

If you’ve read to this point, thank you, and I want to make clear a few final thoughts. First is that I don’t want to make light of anyone’s suffering, and when you are in pain, it is VERY difficult to see a “big picture” perspective on suffering. Second is that there is nothing wrong with a desire to be healthy and comfortable. However, these must not be our ultimate goals, what we devote ourselves to and become transfixed by. What consumes us is growing to be like Christ, walking through life with Christ as our truest treasure and purest pleasure, having an eternal perspective that these light and momentary afflictions (like Paul languishing is a disease-riddled, dark, stinking, cold prison cell) are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

Finally, I have only scratched the surface of what the Bible has to say as it reveals God’s heart about suffering, struggle, pain and sickness. I encourage you to continue in your own study of these issues. Critically evaluate the messages of our culture, messages that may be very embedded in your own heart and thought processes, and compare these with God’s message through His Word. Allow God’s Word to transform your mind and heart. Then use this new perspective to deal with suffering in your own life from God’s perspective, and use it to minister meaningfully to those all around you who are quietly struggling, oftentimes in confusion and despair. None of the painful experiences or enduring struggles we experience surprise our Lord, who struggled just as we do, yet never sinned (Hebr.4:15). He offered abiding joy and hope as he said near the end of his life, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble (other translations say trials, sorrows, suffering, tribulation, distress, affliction). But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Pressing on by God’s grace, Eric