Pain And Suffering

Spiritual First Aid

Pain and Suffering

Introduction

This is probably one of the more difficult sermons or teachings I’ve had to present, because how can I bring comfort and peace to those who are in pain and going through a time of suffering? But then I realized that I can’t, only God can, and so my prayer for you is that God would intercede and bring you the healing and peace that you need.

Because we have all been born with the sin nature, we will, therefore, from the time of our birth to the time of our die, experience various kinds and levels of pain and suffering, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual, which are caused by various reasons, like illness, persecution, and abuse.

Since pain and suffering begins from childbirth, from the moment we recognize the pain and suffering and its source, we spend much of our time and energy trying to avoid or eliminate it.

If you watch TV commercials, you have probably noticed that many of them advertise how to manage pain. They advertise Tylenol, Advil, Aleve, and a dozens other drugs. However, such solutions are only temporary. They manage the pain, but they do not eliminate it.

But no matter which type of pain and suffering it is, it is still pain and suffering, and shouldn’t be sloughed off as if it doesn’t hurt. It does, and the pain is real, and trying to tell ourselves or tell others that it isn’t real, just causes additional pain usually in the form of depression thinking that no one really understands or cares.

Now, some try to avoid or eliminate the pain and suffering through drugs and alcohol, but these never eliminate the pain or suffering, rather they mask it, and as a result it spins us into addictions which only exasperates our pain and suffering.

For some they turn to religion attempting to coax God to help them by keeping religion’s many rules and regulations, only to be disappointed and disillusioned when they realize that through all their manipulations and maneuverings nothing has really changed, and they are in just as much pain, or experiencing the same amount, or an increase in their overall suffering.

This has caused many to turn away from religion, which isn’t a bad idea, because in truth religion doesn’t help one bit. The only thing, or should I say person that will help is the Lord God of the Bible, our Comforter and Great Physician, the One who created us and knows all about us, and knows what we need and what is best for our lives.

Now, in the beginning God’s plan was for us to live in perfect harmony with Him in a place where pain and suffering never existed, that is, the Garden of Eden. But sin entered the picture resulting in pain and suffering, even with the earth itself.

To Adam the Lord said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” (Genesis 3:17b-18a NKJV)

The key to this verse is where the Lord tells Adam that the earth is cursed through Adam’s sin. Because of this curse, the Bible says that all of creation is waiting for humanity’s final redemption when it will be liberated from its ongoing decay, for which it is groaning for even today, which is the cause of all these natural disasters that are bringing suffering to many around the world (Romans 8:22).

And so, no matter where we go, or what we try to do to escape, pain and suffering are a part of the human existence.

It is this, probably more than anything else that has caused many to turn away from God saying how hard it is to believe in a God who would allow such rampant evil, pain, and suffering to go unchecked, and not eliminate it altogether.

A common statement is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But the reality is that good and bad things happen to both good and bad people.

Jesus said that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

And so, to the question of why we are going through pain and suffering, I simply don’t have an easy answer, but let me share what I do know, and what I have experienced.

There are three major reasons as to why we experience pain and suffering.

Three Major Reasons For Pain and Suffering

1. Sin

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12 NKJV)