I am in pain and God is not helping!!

For many of us, while facing what seems like unending pain and sufferings, one of the most puzzling question is "Why does God allow miseries and evil to exist?". This question went unanswered for a long time, then well-wishers learned to point at the Crucifix, and began saying consoling things like "look at Jesus, He has done nothing wrong, God still allowed Him to endure all that sufferings, it's not anything you did, it is God's plan". It is somewhat a reasonable explanation for the one who says it. But for the one in pain, the sufferings of Jesus might not mean much. For one thing, Jesus was not just any human being, He was God. More importantly, He came to earth so that we can be freed from the pain and sufferings, not for Him to die like that on a cross. "Jesus on the Cross" can be a matter of confusion for a believer in distress, needless to talk about somebody struggling with their faith. Thinking rationally, the cross could represent a God who allows terrible sufferings - an all powerful God not loving enough to end the evil and pain, or an all loving God not powerful enough to end the evil and pain.

While trying to answer this dilemma, it important to point out that a non-believer should never question or blame God for sufferings in the world because they have nothing out there to compare the sufferings and pains of this world to. The idea that people are created to live happily on earth involves a Creator - an out of this world power who introduced the feeling of happiness into our minds. Theory of Evolution is the idea behind man's existence for the non-believers, when someone rely on 'survival of the fittest' as reason for being here on earth, then there is no room in there to complain about pain and sufferings that threaten that someone's very existence in favor of someone else. To seek answers for pain and sufferings, one needs to be a believer in God, or at least somebody who wants to believe in God.

The above statement also can be for those who are thinking about abandoning their belief in God because of the existence of pain and suffering. It is important for them to understand that the flip side of faith has absolutely nothing to offer for the pain and suffering. It is a mistake to think that pain and sufferings are easier to handle in a world without God. They become even more torturous when we suffer in vain; in God, pain and sufferings are never in vain.

No religion other than Christianity can fully understand pain and sufferings because it is the only religion that claims that God became fully human in Jesus Christ, and suffered firsthand the pain of despair, rejection, hunger, torture, imprisonment, and the agony of dying. By denying the divinity of Jesus, both Judaism and Islam denied themselves the opportunity to comfort human pain; sufferings can only be answered through the Cross. Buddhism is atheism where salvation is taken out of God's hands and placed in the hands of every individual, and it preaches the spirituality of indifference. Hindus believe in illusion (maya) - according to them, nothing is real, not even the pain and sufferings. 

Even in instances where Christianity struggle to answer the reason for pain and suffering, we can be certain of what the answer is not. It definitely can't be that God doesn't love us, He is not indifferent to our condition. He takes it so seriously that He took it on Himself, so that someday evil and sufferings can end without ending our existence on earth. Jesus on the Cross is a deep consolation and strength to face the brutalities on earth, it is proof that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.." (John 3:16). We can be assured that love of God is with us even in our worst sufferings. 

But we need something more than God's love that endured sufferings and death in times of our pain, what we need is an end to our miseries. This is why it is important for everybody who look at the Cross for an answer for their sufferings need to look beyond the Cross.  Christian view of pain and sufferings is not just consolation on the Cross, more importantly it is restoration in Resurrection. The answer for worldly miseries is not the cross, it is what comes after the cross; unfortunately though, there is no resurrection without the cross. "...For whoever suffers in the flesh has broken with sins" (1 Peter 4:1), sufferings are needed to strip us off our pride, to become humble and obedient. This is how we are sanctified - liberated from the captivity of sin, released from being a slave to evil. In death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy "...He has sent me to bring the good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners" (Isaiah 61:1)  

God's love is revealed on the cross, and His power is in it's full display in resurrection. God gives us the assurance that none of of our pain and suffering went in vain; resurrection is just not relief from the miseries, rather it is the re-establishment of life according to God's plan. The intense pain and sufferings we endure on the cross enabled us to enjoy the glory and happiness of resurrection, "the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The all-loving God who died on the cross and the all-powerful God who rose again from the dead is also a very patient God, "I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live" (Ezekiel 33:11). God has no intention of destroying the creation that He "found good". Taking away miseries means taking away the sin. In order for God to eradicate sin from this world, He would have to eradicate sinners. God hate sins, not the sinners; He wants us to abandon our sinful ways allowing Him to eliminate sins without eliminating us. God has the power to eliminate the sins, thus the miseries, but He also has the patience to endure the sufferings so that we would turn away from sins and become fruitful. He is not the rational shepherd who is happy with the ninety nine , He is the loving Shepherd who goes out looking for the lost one. 

When we abandon sin and turn to Him through His only Son Jesus Christ, He will send a new heaven and a new earth upon us. In Revelation 21, we see clearly that human beings are not taken out of here into heaven; it is heaven that comes down  and cleanses this world, purifying and perfecting it. Incarnation and Cross is profound consolation in the face of suffering, and resurrection is powerful hope. Together they promises that we will get the life we most longed for. Endurance and sacrifice will only increase the glory of the new heaven and new earth; Heaven has the power to work backwards and turn every agony into glory, "For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to their conduct" (Matthew 16:27).

"Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that afflictions produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-5)