What's the cause of pain?
We've all been there. The strange looks, the questions we can't answer, the explanations that are never enough to satisfy. The disbelief from the people who are supposed to support you.
Yes, everyone who has an auto-immune disease, or a handicap/disability knows what I'm talking about. Well-meaning friends may have even told you that your pain was caused by some lack within yourself, lack of faith in God, or withheld bitterness or sin that is making you physically ill.
Not to say that this isn't possible, and it is true that as my faith and trust in God increased, my health got better, because my increase of faith brought a decrease of stress. But just because it's the case sometimes, does not by any means determine that all physical infirmities are caused by these things.
Life with a disease or disability can change rapidly from one day to the next. One day, you are worshiping God with all the fiber in your being, and the next, you have to force your tired, achy body out of bed, and only two words can escape from your heart to God's ears.
Help, God!
On a bad day, the doubting looks of friends can seem as though concealing some sort of judgement, as if you're making this up for attention. Even if you draw as little attention to yourself as possible, it can still slip out from time to time. When you're asked to play some sort of sport, or you volunteer and later change your mind. the question is unvaryingly, why?
I have chronic pain.
Insert furrowed brow here.
what do you have? Can you take anything?
I don't know. Nothing takes it completely away.
Where does it hurt?
Everywhere.
Like the flu?
Yes.
Oh I had that once, it goes away in a few days.
Even the most polite of you have your eyes rolling around in your heads by now.
I said it felt like the flu, I didn't say it was the flu.
There are just some people who cannot understand, the constant, pulsing, radiating ache throughout your joints and muscles. The fatigue that makes it hard to get anything at all accomplished, the weariness that makes every iota in your body ache all the more.
And as I mentioned before, those who do believe you may point the accusing finger at you and suggest that if you had more faith in God, you would be healed.
Here's my problem with this:
If anything, my pain has resulted in an increase of my faith and trust in God! Sure, I'm not perfect, I don't have the faith that I need, and I don't have the trust that God wants me to have. It's a daily struggle. Every single day, I have to give my emotional and mental stuff to God and ask Him to give me physical strength as well.
I have to give any issues of bitterness to God often, as well. I often find it hard to forgive and forget, and my temper has been an issue on more than one occasion, but this is something that God is working on within me every single day. I know this because it is getting easier. It may not help the physical pain in and of itself, but it sure helps my mental health by giving me peace.
But is bitterness and faithlessness always the root of suffering, trials, and pain?
I don't think so.
So what's the biblical view on this?
I'm glad you asked.
But before I get into this, I would just like to note a disclaimer;
I did not sit down to write this post with the sole purpose of igniting debate, inflaming anger, or destroying friendships. I know some people may be bothered with what they read here, but it is something that God has placed heavy on my heart, and if I can help just one person to correct their thinking by pointing them back to the bible, then I will have accomplished my task.
Now then.
In The gospel of John, Chapter 9, verse 1, Jesus, with the disciples in tow, walks by a man who has been blind from birth. His disciples asked if he was blind because of a sin he had committed, or was it his parent's sin? Here they more or less took it for granted that someone must have sinned for this to happen to the man. Notice that they did not ask Jesus if the blindness was a result of sin, but who was responsible.
So Jesus makes something clear here: this man's blindness had occurred not because of a specific act of sin of the man or his parents, but it was an opportunity for God to be glorified. And the man was healed!
I wonder how many times he and his parents were criticized because of his blindness. Were the pharisees and teachers of the law constantly giving them snide looks and whispering about their sin behind their backs?
Perhaps, but even if they had been, they were wrong. The man had not been healed yet because the time had not yet come!
My mom has a saying; "Stuff happens." We live in a sinful world, and as a result of the universal sinful nature, there is pain, but because of the grace that we have been freely given, God reaches down into this cruel world and cradles his followers in his arms. He gives them the strength they need, and whispers into the ears of their hearts the very words that will carry them through anything and everything that happens in this life.
Romans 8:28, the New Living Translation, says this; "And we know that God causes everything to work togetherm for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I love this translation of the verse the most because it uses the word cause. God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. No accident. Pr-ordained. Requiring no plans from us.
Here's the deal:
If you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then at that express moment in time, you received the help of the Holy Spirit. And if your pain/ physical issues are truly of a bitter heart, then he will make that abundantly clear, if you ask him to.
But the bottom line is this; Bad things will happen to God's people in this world. Horrible things. But God will remain faithful throughout it all, ever watching over us, prompting our hearts to look for Him to be our strength, and counting down the days until his son Jesus Christ returns to earth in the second coming.
So, the next time someone suggests that you are faithless or bitter, or any of a number of things, ask God to point you to the truth. He will prompt whatever adjustment in your heart that is needed, but often, it will be forgiveness for the accuser, and an attitude of certainty that this just an unfortunate effect of living in a sinful world, and that God will manifest His plan in the situation to some glorious end. You just never know. Maybe the quiet people around you are watching your attitude and silently struggling with the exact same thing. Maybe you don't even know who it is. Think how cool it would be to get to heaven and have someone tell you that you were used by God to work in their hearts!
I have come to understand something; God only has two responses when those who love Him are hurting; He will either take away the pain, or enable them the strength they need to survive it. That's it. Two options. Each show that God is sovereign. At the very most, we have 120 years on this earth. That's the biblical maximum, told to Noah after the flood. even that is a mere pindot on the vast expanse of time we have waiting for us in eternity!
Yes, everyone who has an auto-immune disease, or a handicap/disability knows what I'm talking about. Well-meaning friends may have even told you that your pain was caused by some lack within yourself, lack of faith in God, or withheld bitterness or sin that is making you physically ill.
Not to say that this isn't possible, and it is true that as my faith and trust in God increased, my health got better, because my increase of faith brought a decrease of stress. But just because it's the case sometimes, does not by any means determine that all physical infirmities are caused by these things.
Life with a disease or disability can change rapidly from one day to the next. One day, you are worshiping God with all the fiber in your being, and the next, you have to force your tired, achy body out of bed, and only two words can escape from your heart to God's ears.
Help, God!
On a bad day, the doubting looks of friends can seem as though concealing some sort of judgement, as if you're making this up for attention. Even if you draw as little attention to yourself as possible, it can still slip out from time to time. When you're asked to play some sort of sport, or you volunteer and later change your mind. the question is unvaryingly, why?
I have chronic pain.
Insert furrowed brow here.
what do you have? Can you take anything?
I don't know. Nothing takes it completely away.
Where does it hurt?
Everywhere.
Like the flu?
Yes.
Oh I had that once, it goes away in a few days.
Even the most polite of you have your eyes rolling around in your heads by now.
I said it felt like the flu, I didn't say it was the flu.
There are just some people who cannot understand, the constant, pulsing, radiating ache throughout your joints and muscles. The fatigue that makes it hard to get anything at all accomplished, the weariness that makes every iota in your body ache all the more.
And as I mentioned before, those who do believe you may point the accusing finger at you and suggest that if you had more faith in God, you would be healed.
Here's my problem with this:
If anything, my pain has resulted in an increase of my faith and trust in God! Sure, I'm not perfect, I don't have the faith that I need, and I don't have the trust that God wants me to have. It's a daily struggle. Every single day, I have to give my emotional and mental stuff to God and ask Him to give me physical strength as well.
I have to give any issues of bitterness to God often, as well. I often find it hard to forgive and forget, and my temper has been an issue on more than one occasion, but this is something that God is working on within me every single day. I know this because it is getting easier. It may not help the physical pain in and of itself, but it sure helps my mental health by giving me peace.
But is bitterness and faithlessness always the root of suffering, trials, and pain?
I don't think so.
So what's the biblical view on this?
I'm glad you asked.
But before I get into this, I would just like to note a disclaimer;
I did not sit down to write this post with the sole purpose of igniting debate, inflaming anger, or destroying friendships. I know some people may be bothered with what they read here, but it is something that God has placed heavy on my heart, and if I can help just one person to correct their thinking by pointing them back to the bible, then I will have accomplished my task.
Now then.
In The gospel of John, Chapter 9, verse 1, Jesus, with the disciples in tow, walks by a man who has been blind from birth. His disciples asked if he was blind because of a sin he had committed, or was it his parent's sin? Here they more or less took it for granted that someone must have sinned for this to happen to the man. Notice that they did not ask Jesus if the blindness was a result of sin, but who was responsible.
John 9:1-7 "As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing."
So Jesus makes something clear here: this man's blindness had occurred not because of a specific act of sin of the man or his parents, but it was an opportunity for God to be glorified. And the man was healed!
I wonder how many times he and his parents were criticized because of his blindness. Were the pharisees and teachers of the law constantly giving them snide looks and whispering about their sin behind their backs?
Perhaps, but even if they had been, they were wrong. The man had not been healed yet because the time had not yet come!
My mom has a saying; "Stuff happens." We live in a sinful world, and as a result of the universal sinful nature, there is pain, but because of the grace that we have been freely given, God reaches down into this cruel world and cradles his followers in his arms. He gives them the strength they need, and whispers into the ears of their hearts the very words that will carry them through anything and everything that happens in this life.
Romans 8:28, the New Living Translation, says this; "And we know that God causes everything to work togetherm for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I love this translation of the verse the most because it uses the word cause. God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. No accident. Pr-ordained. Requiring no plans from us.
Here's the deal:
If you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then at that express moment in time, you received the help of the Holy Spirit. And if your pain/ physical issues are truly of a bitter heart, then he will make that abundantly clear, if you ask him to.
But the bottom line is this; Bad things will happen to God's people in this world. Horrible things. But God will remain faithful throughout it all, ever watching over us, prompting our hearts to look for Him to be our strength, and counting down the days until his son Jesus Christ returns to earth in the second coming.
So, the next time someone suggests that you are faithless or bitter, or any of a number of things, ask God to point you to the truth. He will prompt whatever adjustment in your heart that is needed, but often, it will be forgiveness for the accuser, and an attitude of certainty that this just an unfortunate effect of living in a sinful world, and that God will manifest His plan in the situation to some glorious end. You just never know. Maybe the quiet people around you are watching your attitude and silently struggling with the exact same thing. Maybe you don't even know who it is. Think how cool it would be to get to heaven and have someone tell you that you were used by God to work in their hearts!
I have come to understand something; God only has two responses when those who love Him are hurting; He will either take away the pain, or enable them the strength they need to survive it. That's it. Two options. Each show that God is sovereign. At the very most, we have 120 years on this earth. That's the biblical maximum, told to Noah after the flood. even that is a mere pindot on the vast expanse of time we have waiting for us in eternity!
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