The Mystery of Suffering: Freedom from or Presence Within Suffering

Rather than God’s one great mistake, Dr Paul Brand came to realize that pain is essential in keeping us alive: it is the warning that something is wrong. It is no surprise then after Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, that God “turns up the pain,” to warn of something deadly in our world and in our lives. Not merely punishment for sin, in the hands of Him Who loves us such affliction challenges faith and brings out hidden and often unrealized strengths. In the extreme crucible of World War II death camps, where the faith which focuses on ease and prosperity is abandoned, a faith with real substance is discovered. A concrete comfort comes through Jesus Who intimately knows pain and intimately knows us. As with Job, so often the why of suffering can be a mystery for us as well. Still, the effect of pain can make our faith and life far richer, provides essential threads within the tapestry of life which one day will reveal the beautiful wisdom of a God of Love and wonderful Glory.