God and Pain

The following devotional was taken from "Strength for the Journey" and written by Bill McFarland.

August 1
Daily Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 27-29; Mark 15:1-41

God and Pain
Devotional Text: Mark 15:22-24, 33-34


In his book The Cross of Christ, John Stott wrote, “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross …. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who is immune to it? … He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His.” (p. 335, 336)

The problem of pain is, and always has been, a severe challenge to faith. God does not offer a detailed defense of Himself nor an explanation of His rule over a world where suffering exists. He does offer his Son to redeem us from it.

We wish pain were gone. Some day it will be. In the meantime, we are strengthened by remembering what was accomplished when Christ suffered for sins. A writer unknown to me imagined God’s response to man’s cry for pain to be taken away:

Then answered the Lord to the cry of the world,
“Shall I take away pain,
And with it the power of the soul to endure,
Made strong by the strain?
Shall I take away pity that knits heart to heart,
And sacrifice high?
Will you lose all your heroes that lift from the fire
White brows to the sky?
Shall I take away love that redeems with a price,
And smiles with your loss?
Can you spare from your life that would cling unto mine
The Christ on His Cross?”

No, we can’t. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and chastised for our peace. With His stripes we are healed. Some things are accomplished through suffering that can’t be done any other way.