Walking the Way of Pain

by Carl Palmer

"I have no cure. I can do nothing for you. It's just a matter of time."

One of our friends received this news after he underwent exploratory surgery for lung cancer. The doctor gave him only a few months to live. Instantly faced with tragedy, our friend was forced to walk the way of pain.

The same thing happens to many of us. Tragedy can strike through such things as sickness, disability, rebellious children or family members, marital conflict, job loss, or financial crises.

People react different when faced with tragedy. Some give in to depression. Some become angry and bitter. Some may even take their own lives. But from the Bible - particularly the story of Job - we can learn the right way to walk the way of pain.

Worship God

Job was an upright man who feared God and shunned evil. One day after God boasted about him, Satan answered:

"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face" (Job 1:9-11).

God granted Satan's request. Awhile later, Job's world came crashing down around him. Satan wiped him out - cattle, wealth, children. One moment, Job had everything; shortly after, he had nothing.

How did Job react to these tragedies? The story says he arose, tore his mantle, and shaved his head as a sign of deep grief. He also fell on the ground - and worshipped (v. 20). Most of us have no problem showing our grief; it's right for us to grieve in whatever way is fitting. But how many of us worship God when tragedy strikes? How many of us honor and praise Him when we hurt?

Worship is not usually our first reaction when we're hit by tragedy. But by worshipping God, we can more easily walk the way of pain, because we're choosing to focus on His sovereignty. We, too, can say with Job, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (v. 21).

Do Not Blame God

Job's reaction to tragedy consisted of not only what he did, but also what he did not do: He did not sin or accuse God of wrongdoing (v. 22). Blaming God is perhaps our greatest temptation when we're hurting. We reason that, since He is in control, He could have prevented our affliction.

But when Job refused to charge God with wrongdoing, he demonstrated his righteousness - his complete trust in a sovereign God. If we do the same, we can be sure that God is walking with us in our pain and is not working against us.

Do Not Turn Against God

After Job suffered awhile, God boasted of Job again to Satan. "There's my man!" God said in essence. "He's perfect; he's upright in every way. He respects Me and hates evil. I can count on him to be there!"

But Satan didn't buy it. He said something like, "Oh, yeah? Just take away Job's health and see how he reacts! A man will do anything to save his life. He'll curse You to Your face!" (see 2:5).

Having been warned by God to spare Job's life, Satan left the presence of God and hit Job with horrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

Despite added tragedy, despite his wife's suggestion to "curse God and die," despite three "friends" who were anything but comforting, Job did not sin in what he said. He did not turn against God when life dished out more than he could take. Rather, Job chose a balanced perspective of suffering: "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (v. 10).

The same perspective can help us when we walk the way of pain. The very One who made us and knows the number of hairs on our head stands ready to help in our time of need. To reject Him is to cut off our only source of survival.

Be Human

Though Job refused to blame God and curse Him, he did try to sort out his problems and search for answers. In other words, Job allowed himself to be human. He essentially said, "If I could just be in God's presence, stand face-to-face with God to plead my cause, then He would answer me. I know He's there. Why is there no answer?"

These are normal questions all of us ask in the face of tragedy. We try to analyze the rhyme and reason of what's going on, and many times we find no good reason at all. We try to communicate with an unseen God. It takes a person of steady faith to say, as Job did, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (13:15).

Redemptive Suffering

The New Testament gives more perspective on suffering. Romans 8:28 says when tragedies strike us, all is not lost: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

This verse does not say, "All things that happen are in accord with God's will." When children are into drugs and prostitution, that's not God's will. That's Satan's work! Romans 8:28 doesn't mean that everything is cleared up, that the child who is into drug addiction will come back. It means God will bring something good out of that situation for those who love the Lord. You can depend on it!

What good can God bring out of suffering? He'll make sure we come through with more understanding. He'll make us more sensitive, better able to help others who experience tragedy. Second Corinthians 1:3, 4 says:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Obedience and Joy

David, one of the psalmists, expresses our natural response to suffering:

My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest - I would flee far away and stay in the desert; Selah. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm (Psalm 55:4-8).

Like David, how we would like to escape painful situations! Can't we just fly off into the desert alone and pretend our problems aren't there? Is there no escape?

But that's not the way Jesus handled suffering. Even in Jesus' sinless life, suffering had a purpose: to teach Him obedience (Hebrews 5:8). I'm convinced we, too, need trials and hardships in our lives to strengthen us. We're not strengthened by the blessings of God that encourage us and confirm that He loves us. Rather, we're strengthened when we face trials and come through them victoriously.

The biblical writer Paul had the correct perspective:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:18-23).

Conclusion

We, like Job, go through tragic circumstances and feel all alone. We also cry out, "God, why? Where are You?" We hear nothing; no change comes. But God is in heaven, pleased that we're "hanging in there." And He may be saying, "Satan, here's another one. You lose again!"

What was the result of suffering for Job? After the long ordeal, God revealed Himself to Job and his friends and rewarded Job for his faithfulness. Job's wealth was restored double, and he fathered the same number of sons and daughters he had before. Job was happy and became once again the most powerful man in the whole territory. He lived to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Though we may not be blessed in the same way Job was, with everything restored as it was before, God will make good out of our way of pain in His time.

A version of this article appeared in the December '95 issue of the Bible Advocate magazine. For a free subscription, contact us at bibleadvocate@cog7.org Carl Palmer is pastor of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Spokane, WA. Scripture quotations were taken from the New International Version.

© 1996 General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day)