This has been a tough week with the high school students I teach. I have a rapport with many of them, so when they hurt I hurt also, even though it is to a lesser degree. Two of my students were hospitalized—one for a debilitating physical condition and one for emotional distress. I saw another student for the first time in weeks. I asked how that student was doing and they could hardly answer due to the pain, but finally muttered their parents were divorcing. In my own family, a week ago my aging stepfather fell on the ice and was hospitalized for fracturing his femur. Also in my extended family there is heartbreaking trauma which has been going on for several months. You probably have family or friends who are huting also. Or maybe you are suffering. It’s hard to go through trials or to see those you care for experience pain and suffering physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Fortunately, you can have hope. God empathisizes much deeper than any of us can comprehend. Release your pain to God and he will redeem it in his perfect way and timing.
God Redeems Pain
In his unsurpassed wisdom, sometimes God ordains hardship to train and refine us. Sometimes he allows the consequences of our sin, the sin of others, or the decay of our fallen world to play out instead of stopping them. But in every case God sees everything, he knows about it all, and he acts in tender love and tough love to bring about the best for those who trust him, even though the path to that victory may be marked with difficulty.
C.S. Lewis, a well known Christian author who was once a skeptic, wrote in his book, The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Also, “Until the evil man finds evil unmistakably present in his existence, in the form of pain, he is enclosed in illusion…No doubt Pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument: it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.”
This truth is hard to accept at first, because no one in their right mind desires pain or suffering, or wants to think that God would allow it. We go to great lengths and spend our resources to obtain comfort and security while avoiding pain and suffering. Even when people empathize with the trials of others, they tend to distance themselves, if it gets too costly. Yet the truth remains that God utilizes pain to save and restore those who submit to that divine process.
Jesus Accepted and Released Pain
The prime example of this is Jesus. Before making humankind, God knew people would reject him and rebel against him. Yet out of his amazing love, he decided to provide a solution to enable people to turn back to him instead of dying from their waywardness—for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23-24). Jesus is God’s answer to humankind’s suffering from their sin. He is God the Son who became a man to show people who God is and to enable people to know God (John 17:3). He did this by laying down his life—taking on your sin, pain, and suffering so you can take up true life in him, free from sin’s consequences. While on earth Jesus experienced all the pain and temptation you could ever face. He understands loving others only to have them reject, hate, misrepresent, ridicule, oppose, beat, betray, abandon, disown, and crucify him. Yet he didn’t allow the burden of hurt to crush him, to distance him from people, or to derail him from his mission to save people. Instead he released this pain to God the Father and relied on God’s strength to carry him through. At the cross, Jesus’ suffering extended beyond our comprehension. At the climax of his death he was forsaken by his Father and became sin for us so that anyone who believes in him can become right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Follow Jesus
What does Jesus’ example mean for you? God did not spare the pain of letting his son die, because he knew it would save people (John 3:16-21; Romans 5:8). Jesus did not avoid the pain of being forsaken by God and bearing the sin of the world. He endured it because he knew it would glorify God and enable people to be saved (Hebrews 12:1-3). Jesus lived a righteous life, innocently died a sacrificial death on your behalf, and victoriously rose again to free you from sin and death. Anyone who trusts and obeys Jesus can experience his abundant life now and forever.
Therefore, if you follow Jesus, you will do as he does by his grace and power (John 17:18; 20:21). Empathize with others even if it involves pain. Lay down your life to help others come to know God even if it involves suffering (John 10:11, 15:13). Accept that the world may hate you and you will face hardship because, for a time, you still remain in this fallen world of broken people. But even amidst this pain, suffering, and hardship you can rejoice because Jesus has overcome anything you will face and he will graciously sustain you through it (John 16:33, 17:13-19; 1 John 4:4, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Conclusion
As I’m writing this note I’m joining with you in applying its advice. When I think of my students and my family, I don’t want to grow weary in doing good and interceding for others. You shouldn’t either. Thank God amidst trying circumstances and relationships. Openly share your concerns and leave them with him to intervene in his perfect way and timing. Release to Jesus your pain and the hurt you have from empathizing with others. In the process he will train you in righteousness, set you apart for his purposes, transform you to become like himself, fulfill your joy, and grant you peace beyond understanding. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
Note: You might enjoy the song, Chain Breaker, by Zach Williams. It exalts Jesus as the pain-taking savior for all who turn to him.