Why does he cry out to God for an answer, if no God is there to be petitioned? There is one thing you must learn about God. He lost his riches (He was the greatest of all men from the east). God is enacting a plan to bring about a time and place where there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. 5:12; 8:20-22). Job was a faithful servant of God yet faced immense temptation, 3. The same painful experience can make one person bitter, narrow, and ungenerous, and another person sweeter, humbler, and more patient. Upon his release, he wrote about his experiences and observations. Yet he allowed him to be tempted. Scripture is not silent on this. The first came with answers. 4. B. A. Sinful people cause some suffering directly (lying, anger, divorce, drugs, crime, etc.). Job 1:1. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. Confess! It might take longer than Habakkuk expected or hoped, but God’s justice would come decisively and in the right time. The atheist, by contrast, must provide some explanation for why suffering and death are so tragic. The prophet Habakkuk lived through a period of great suffering among God’s people. —Psalm 88:6. We must keep her eyes on the Lord and not grow faint. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. When asked how much God cares about the problem of evil and suffering, the Christian can point to the cross and say, "enough to die on a cross Himself as God's Son." What about God changes our perspective on suffering? For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake; Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. If you consistently live the way expected of a Christian, there is nothing to panic about. — Philippians 4:12, 13. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”, The image of God wiping away tears from the eyes of his people communicates not merely the cessation of earthly suffering, but consolation for earthly suffering. Rather, all pain and suffering is the result of fallenness. He is still perfectly righteous and holy. How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1, ) “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. But Cowper’s despair is not the sum and total of his life. —Psalm 6:6, How long, Lord? Suffering can poison and embitter us. Psalm 34:18. Psalm 147:3-5 – Bible verses about emotional pain. God sovereignly uses circumstances to teach powerful lessons or accomplish His will. What’s the practical payoff when we are actively suffering in the here and now? The difference was that I was able to look back and see that no matter what happened to me in the past, God was with me and he brought me through it. Job explores the difficult question of God's relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust God's wisdom and character. Despite losing all his children, God blessed him with the exact number of children. The character Ivan gives a heart-rending expression of the Problem of Evil in a speech in Book V, chapters 3–5, and no other character in the book really gives an answer. And if rejecting God merely compounds the problem of suffering, the wisest remaining option—no matter how difficult it may be—is to trust that in the end God is big enough to have an answer for suffering. In suffering there is also, I believe, a message of warning. He will never forsake those that trust in him. It is neither remote nor trite nor glib nor superficial. The first came with answers. He can remove your emotional suffering and disappointment. The narrative overwhelms the logic. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. What Does the Bible Say about Pain and Suffering? Will you forget me forever? Set in Uz, an obscure land far from Israel, during an unknown time period, the book of Job focuses on questions about God's justice and why good people suffer. If Jesus was God among us, as the Bible claims, then we can no longer view suffering in the same way. According to the Bible, those who reject this salvation and persist in rebellion against God will be banished from God’s presence and experience eternal death and suffering.17. The Bible tells us there is a greater purpose (see next post). Everyone passes through difficulties in life. Suffering is Complex. In fact, Jesus assured his followers they would indeed have trouble in this life.12 But the suffering of Christ gives hope during tough times because it imparts something that is even stronger than suffering: the love of God, which the Apostle Paul called a “love that surpasses knowledge.”13 As Tim Keller explains: If we again ask the question, “Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?” and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. Despite his innocence, he died for our transgressions. Despite this pain and suffering, God through His Son Jesus Christ has reconciled us to Himself, so after death we will spend an eternity with a loving God in a place with no death or suffering. Discover your next steps toward a relationship with God. Their reasoning was this: Surely Job must have provoked God in some way! Another early strand of Christian thought, represented by theologians such as Origen of Alexandria (184/185–253/254), can be called  “greater goods theodicy.” In this defense, God is said to permit evil because he is ultimately using evil to bring about greater good. Scholars debate the fundamental issue dealt with in Ecclesiastes. God answered Habakkuk, but it was not the response Habakkuk expected. The book is filled with statements like: I am worn out from my groaning. And Ivan, in coming to terms with his indirect complicity in his own father’s murder, goes insane. Many people assume—perhaps sometimes subconsciously—that this is exclusively how suffering works. He said that God had a plan, that God could work it out for good, and that God would give Joe strength. Do you follow the commandments of Christ in all your endeavors? He gave us himself. If your faith is dampened because God is yet to heal your pain, you need to encourage yourself with the story of Job. Instead, it recognizes the complexity of suffering and how it comes upon us. At the conclusion of Book XI, Alyosha, the book’s strangely quiet hero, reflects on Ivan’s madness: In The Brothers Karamazov, and in our actual lives, there is nothing that can take away the difficulty of suffering. Suffering Is Not Random. As Corrie Ten Boom wrote while languishing in a Nazi prison in 1944: “There is no pit so deep but Christ is deeper still.”. He loved him for always keeping his laws. The bulk of the book of Job consists of dialogues between Job and his friends in which his friends keep saying, essentially, “Come on, Job. But, of course, there’s a more basic philosophical question at hand: Why did God create a world in which there was the potential for suffering in the first place? Think about the creation of the world.     but sweet will be the flow’r. and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Not only so, but we ourselves, w… He blessed him even more than he previously did. William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” 1774. By means of his heavenly Kingdom, Jehovah will drastically change the human condition​—for the better. Why did that natural disaster happen? Because of such possibilities—and the finitude of human knowledge about what a perfect God would do in a given set of circumstances—even many contemporary atheists and agnostics admit that the Problem of Evil is, at best, a probabilistic argument. The Bible offers a vision of a God who is big enough to handle such questions, and big enough to trust even when life seems to be falling apart. Here are sixteen Bible passages that help us understand why God allows the presence of evil and suffering in the world: God has a purpose in everything he allows. An estimated 35 to 50 million Americans suffer from nonmalignant chronic pain. Augustine taught that evil is simply the privation of good; it exists as a necessary possibility in a world of free, morally conscious creatures. Death, suffering, pains, physical injuries, barrenness, joblessness (and suck likes) should not make us stop serving God. Ask God to help you have a trusting, patient attitude, and flee from bitterness. While going through emotional or physical pain, remember that there is “glory in the end.”, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Are you dedicated to the service of God? According to the Bible, God already gave us the first installment of this beautiful ending when he resurrected Jesus from the dead. His suffering led to many people being rescued . In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I was young and now I am old,yet I have never seen the righteous forsakenor their children begging bread. Job’s three friends came to visit him, each assuming that Job must have been guilty of some crime. Because we know suffering does exist, it causes people to look for answers. C. S. Lewis came to realize this in his own journey away from atheism: In other words, suffering and evil are problems for everyone, theist and atheist alike. (NIV), He heals the brokenheartedand binds up their wounds.He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.Great is our Lord and mighty in power;his understanding has no limit. However, now we know what the answer isn’t. God himself is the answer. PAIN & Suffering A Study in the Scriptures Revelation 21:4 tells us something beautiful: “‘[God] will wipe every tear from [his people’s] eyes. He did not speak unless spoken to, but he prayed with Joe and sat in silence with him. Suffering is not without purpose. At the center of the biblical story is a God who actually enters into suffering for us. In his book The View from a Hearse, Joe Bayly tells the story of two men who came to comfort him after the death of his three sons. He came. When you are lonely, disappointed, and going through pains and suffering, you must pick up your bible to encourage yourself. Why did my loved one get cancer? When she presented at the clinic, she was crying and inconsolable. He went insane four times, attempted suicide on several occasions, and was debilitated by depression for long periods of time, including the final ten years of his life. A life that is so beautiful that eyes have not seen nor ear heard. Nearly one in five (7.5 million!) One of the deepest and most poignant treatments of suffering in the Bible is the story of Job. It has not always been, and it will not always be. This vision of joy as the ultimate destination of redeemed creation explains our longing for permanent happiness, and the feeling of being out of place that we sometimes have in this world. Even when tempted by the wife to “Curse God and Die” he rebuked her. But however difficult faith in God may be in light of the terrible pain in this world, its only alternative is an unlivable despair. At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee asks, “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”15 In the Bible, heaven represents the place where sadness not merely ends, but becomes untrue—forever. The theist knows why he hates them, because the theist believes that suffering and evil are a deviation from a real standard, a fall from a real good. Bible verses related to Pain from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance - Sort By Book Order Revelation 21:4 - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. His purposes will ripen fast, Some see it as a treatise on life’s provisional nature. a) That God would be glorified in everything (John 9:1-3) b) That He suffers with us (John 11:33-35; Hebrews 4:14-16) If suffering and evil are perplexing within theism, happiness and good can only be incomprehensible within atheism. Ivan’s philosophy is the rationale used by the character Smerdyakov for committing the central tragedy of the plot—the murder of Ivan’s father. But Job encountered God.     he hides a smiling face. It can be thought of as a play with four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. In fact, it caused Habakkuk even more confusion. What does it say? Like Habakkuk, like Joe Bayly, Job needed God himself more than he needed his questions answered. What Does the Bible Say About Suffering? Only God knows what is in a person's heart (Psalm 139:1-2). A Deeper Look at What the Bible Says about Pain and Suffering, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So77oS7Kih8. Suffering and sorrow does not change judgment. Our father can heal the sick, provide a job for the jobless, and put a smile on your face. Job did not sin against God; 3. God took away Job’s pains and suffering and blessed him, 26 Bible verse about Revenge: Vengeance is mine scriptures, 31 Bible verses about Peace and Comfort (Powerful Scriptures), 22 Bible verses About Greed and Materialism (Scriptures), 17 Bible verses about trusting others: Important Scriptures, Bible verses about Dress Code & dressing modestly (Scriptures), Prayer for a new home to live (house cleansing and dedication), 19 Bible verses about evil and evil doers (Scriptures), 28 Bible verses about enemies (powerful Scriptures). In his letters, as well as in his poetry and hymns, there is another strand of thought—one of hope, patience, and faith in God. The phrase “never seen the righteous forsaken” should inspire your soul. John Milton’s Paradise Lost, one of the most well-regarded epic poems in the English language, is devoted to this issue. The Bible teaches that we are to be patient in suffering. If they come, we must understand that God knows all things. That is the only possible explanation for the suffering that has overcome him. Does the Bible address the topic of pain and suffering? It is so forcefully and empathetically articulated that one wonders if it is Dostoevsky’s own view shining through Ivan’s words. Dunn is a medical doctor by profession, philanthropist, and a firm believer of Christ. He was born, lived, died, and rose again from the dead to defeat evil and reconcile to God those who trust in him. (All Bible verses are from the NIV84 unless indicated otherwise.) When Jesus hung on the cross, he suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable, because he took on all the sins of humanity. We must continue to endure because we know there is glory in the end. The quest for an answer to the problem of suffering is universal. In 2011 when I had cancer again, I was able to give thanks to God, not for the cancer, of course, but for his steady, loving hand through it all. Now that’s rough. It is one thing to discuss the problem of suffering in the abstract. Why is death tragic, if death is king? As deep as suffering goes, God goes deeper. The second man came simply to sit with Joe. But what do we do with all this? An important Bible story to inspire you is the temptations of the man, Job. Bible Verses about Suffering - Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we… I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the… Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the… But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are… He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and… As real as suffering is, God is more real. But the events of the story undermine Ivan’s argument. John 14:30; 1Thes 3:5 and the story of Job all teach that Satan is the ruler of this world. It is quite another to experience suffering in our lives or see it dramatized in the lives of others. Our suffering is directly related to the curse that came upon the earth as the result of sin. Over the centuries, Christians have responded to this question, which is often called the Problem of Evil, with many different theodicies—defenses of God’s good and powerful character despite the existence of evil. But suppose one finds the traditional Christian answers to the question of evil inadequate and feels compelled to deny the existence of God? Fundamentally, it is the story of what God has accomplished for us, how he is repairing a broken world; it is a message of hope in light of his suffering for us. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. He served God faithfully. What does the Bible say about suffering? With sin came corruption, suffering and death (see Gen. 2:17; 3:17; Rom. Paul said: “God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle.”. In the midst of one of his darker struggles, he wrote to a friend: In another letter he confessed, “One thing and one only is left to me, the wish that I had never existed.”25. Yet, at the same time, the Bible makes it very clear that all human suffering is the result of the Fall. 2. No human has the … You must stay strong and be focused on the service of God. It is encouraging to know we are not alone in asking such questions, and that crying out to God in our grief is not forbidden. The Lord is close to the brokenheartedand saves those who are crushed in spirit. Consequently, God blessed him in the end. This is because you will not get discouraged in the service of God. We have a choice. The Bible also has a sober and realistic perspective on suffering. Christ experienced physical pain as well as feelings of rejection and abandonment for the sinful disobedience of mankind. Copy and paste the code below into your website. Are there bible verses about pain and suffering that can strengthen my soul? So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. God responded a second time, declaring that he would bring all evil to account and settle every score. One use of the book of Job is to distinguish a biblical view of suffering from the concept of karma, which is the notion that there is a kind of unbreakable cause-and-effect law in the moral realm. Job never learned the true cause of his suffering, even after he had been restored by God. The psalmist David is saying, God, can never disappoint his people. What’s more important is remaining steadfast and believing in God to heal your pain. You’re not. In times of great distress, we often want to know that our suffering matters to God and that He cares about our pain. Nowhere does the Bible forbid tears or portray them as a sign of weakness. The words perfect and upright shows God’s thoughts about Job. When you understand this, you easily build up faith in the midst of difficulties. When Job sees God, he no longer needs an answer. Job 1:21-22, Therefore, whether you may be going through unbearable pain and suffering, or looking searching for the fruit of the womb, or you are struggling with sickness, lift your voices and “bless the name of the lord.”, He will take away all pain and sorrow in his time. If you are passing through lots of challenges, it is a test by the devil. It is a patient endurance. The devil will never stop hurting the children of God. He causes pain and suffering and tempts man to sin. I had cancer in 1976. What are the causes of suffering? The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Job responds with joy and repentance. We see here a hint of the hope that the Bible offers to sufferers. To pick out one theme is to hear the […] Here are Jobs words, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. By Gavin Ortlund In his book The View from a Hearse, Joe Bayly tells the story of two men who came to comfort him after the death of his three sons.     unfolding every hour; Therefore, serving God does not make us free from the persecutions of the devil. Suffering can produce very different results in different peoples’ lives, depending on how they respond to it. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. It turned out that she had multiple huge fibroid masses. The Bible leaves many of our questions about suffering unanswered. However, what it does do is tell us the story of a God who has come close to us in the midst of our suffering, who actually suffered for us, who will one day destroy suffering forever. Why? While going through pain, we must remember that it is only transient. As Dorothy Sayers wrote: Of course, the suffering of Christ does not immediately take away our own pain. In fact, it recommends them when we are in the presence of sufferers; Bible readers are called to “mourn with those who mourn.”6. Revelation 21:4 tells us something beautiful: “‘[God] will … There is an entire book in the Bible titled Lamentations, which, according to tradition, records the prophet Jeremiah’s grief-laden prayers to the Lord after Jerusalem was sacked and the temple was destroyed in 587 BCE. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. God cried over Jerusalem because He knew they would not repent and He would have to carry out His justice.  the bud may have a bitter taste, Suffering for Jesus is an attribute of a faithful Christian, and I hope to win new souls to Christ with every chance that I get. Others take it as addressing the absurdities of life. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For the things which are seen, 29 Bible verse about worry and stressful times. In one of his most famous hymns, he wrote, Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, If God can work out some evil for good, the argument goes, then isn’t it possible—given enough time and wisdom—that he could work out all evil for good? Sufferers may wonder if God even cares, so we will investigate what the Bible has to say about chronic pain. “He will never” means he will undoubtedly heal your pain. 1. It is okay to feel annoyed and angry about your situation. I mean seven days. At this point, the problem of suffering becomes an even greater problem. God has been patient with us (Numbers 14:18; Romans 2:4) and we are to be patient with others (Ephesians 4:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). Like the character Orual in C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, Job discovers there is a kind of joy that is far better than what we think we want. seniors take medication for chronic pain, according to a 1997 survey conducted for The National Council on the Aging (NCOA) by Louis Harris & Associates. The biblical view of suffering is more nuanced than the karmic view. Not all think it is about “the apparent futility or meaninglessness of life,” particularly in a modern, existentialist sense. A few weeks back, I met a young lady suffering from massive vaginal bleeding. Rather, he prayed to God and blessed his name. God has promised us a better life after death. The Bible teaches that evil entered into God’s creation through the rebellion of some of God’s creatures—first angels and then human beings.2 When humans lost their innocence through original sin (disobeying God in the Garden of Eden),3 pain and futility entered into the basic human experiences of family and work as a result.4, Within the biblical worldview, then, suffering is not a permanent or intrinsically necessary fixture of reality, as in some renderings of the Eastern notion of Yin and Yang. We see this in Joseph’s tough circumstances (Genesis 37-50). People often treat the Bible like a manual, looking for a single clear response that explains the presence of evil and suffering. On the other hand, they say, if God is truly great, then he must not be good, because he could stop the evil and suffering but doesn’t.  behind a frowning providence For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Suffering can show up in many ways. When we feel disappointed and humiliated, we must stay strong and believe in God’s promise. In this world you will have trouble. Blind unbelief is sure to err That’s an extraordinary thing to do in the eyes of man. James taught that trials should be considered “pure joy” because they produce perseverance.20 The Apostle Paul took the concept even further, saying that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”21 The New Testament repeatedly calls Christians to stand up under unjust suffering, and even to rejoice in it in light of God’s redemptive purposes.22. When we experience suffering or observe it in the lives of those around us, one of the most natural questions to ask is, Why? Pain could mean physically hurt, sickness, financial disappointment, difficulties with getting a Job, heartbreaks, and emotional distress. Seeing God enabled him to find joy, even amidst his suffering. Yes, there are numerous bible verses about pain and suffering in the scriptures. One important aspect of the Bible’s teaching is the call to persevere with integrity through suffering. Another example is Hosea’s marriage to Gomer, an unfaithful woman. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Yes, the Bible treats life as a divine gift and something humans are to value and respect. Habakkuk looked around the kingdom of Judah and cried out to God about the injustice and evil he saw everywhere. How long will you hide your face from me? As C. S. Lewis wrote in his book The Great Divorce, “They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”16 The Bible offers this amazing gift to anyone who repents of sin and trusts in Christ for salvation. In a universe governed by karma, people who do good will experience good, and people who do bad will experience bad. After all, at that point, how can one say that there is such a thing as evil? Therefore, be immovable and trust in God.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'faithfulchristian_net-medrectangle-4','ezslot_6',106,'0','0'])); I have compiled a list of bible verses about pain that will strengthen your soul. The Bible has many things to say about pain and suffering. It is a consequence of the biblical notion of sin—which one Christian author described as a disease that has entered the world through created beings refusing to accept their creaturely status.5. I certainly don't want to minimize pain and suffering, but it helps if we take a long-term perspective.     and scan His work in vain; The voices of sufferers throughout the centuries have cried out concerning the difference God makes amidst suffering. The Bible is deeply sensitive to the problem of suffering, including the internal suffering that many modern people face. But perhaps the most influential response to the Problem of Evil is the “free-will theodicy” of Augustine of Hippo (354–430). In other words, the Bible has a linear, rather than cyclical, view of suffering. God declared that he was raising up the Chaldeans—a brutal and terrifying people—to execute judgment on Judah for their injustice and transgressions. Whether believers or unbelievers. yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken. Think of it this way. When asked how much God cares about the problem of evil and suffering, the Christian God can point to the cross and say, “That much.” Christ experienced physical pain as well as feelings of rejection and abandonment. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.14, Though the Bible makes no promise to take away our suffering in this life, it does give us hope that suffering will one day be ended forever. Perhaps the Bible does not have one but many responses to suffering. He opened his book by asking God two questions: How long? 1 Peter 5:9-10 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. It is an honest book that operates right in the midst of the gritty realities we face in this life.