The Problem of Pain

Back in the early 1900s, C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Problem of Pain. For those that are unfamiliar with the many works of C.S. Lewis, he was an incredibly intelligent man, an atheist, who set out to prove intellectually that there was no God. In the process of proving that, he himself became a follower of Jesus. And yes, this is the same C.S. Lewis that wrote The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe children's series. I try to avoid universally recommending books because everyone has different tastes in literature. The Problem of Pain is an incredibly insightful book but its a heavy read. If you want to really exercise your brain and challenge your reading comprehension skills, then yes I would recommend this book. I'd like to read it again one day, when perhaps my brain is a little more cooperative with big words and highly intellectual concepts. For the meantime, I'd like to try to sum up and interpret the premise of it, not because I think that I have anything to add to the great works of C.S. Lewis but because its just something that's been on my mind lately. We live in an incredibly broken world that seems to have more and more problems with pain with each generation. The first time my attention was drawn to this book was in the midst of my pain of infertility. My pastor quoted the book, saying "Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." I don't know exactly why this quote spoke so profoundly to me but it did. I remember the first time I heard the clear and distinct voice of God. It was in the midst of my deepest pain, right after we lost our first pregnancy. It was rousing for sure.


The book seeks to answer the question "Why would an all-knowing, all-loving God allow people to experience pain and suffering?" That's a big question and one I don't intend to fully answer here. But it has to do with free will. People get irritated with that answer, like its a cop-out answer. I think the problem is that most people don't understand why God gave free will and what exactly that means. God wanted His creation to choose Him. He could have easily created man to have no say in loving and following Him. But that wouldn't have been real love, would it? If I had the ability to take away my husband's choice in loving me, would his love be genuine? He takes me as I am, the things he knows and understands about me, as well as all that he doesn't know and understand. Despite the risks associated, he made the choice. Most days I even think he's still pretty happy about his choice. ;-) The choice is what makes his love for me so special. That's what God desired from us.


Of course, there were risks for God too. Some would choose not to love Him. Some would choose not to even give him a chance and disregard all of His attempts to reach them. Then there's the risk of making choices that hurt themselves or others. Why God chooses to intervene sometimes and not others is something that I'll probably never understand. But if He chose to intervene at all times, free will could no longer exist. Its like when my two year old cries for me to hold him and then cries to be put down. There's no strength or knowledge or omniscience I could gain that would allow me to hold him and not hold him simultaneously. Its an impossibility. Even God Himself could not hold my son and not hold him at the same time. They're mutually exclusive. This is the most simplistic example of how free will works but for me, I'll never forget the moment God whispered that truth in my ear as I sat there watching my son scream over my lack of compliance with his impossible wishes.


A few weeks ago, a friend of a friend lost her 2 year old. It was a tragic situation that did not result from someone making a poor choice, someone not doing their job, or someone's "sin nature." It was simply a tragedy, a heartbreak with no reasonable cause or explanation. I don't know them but I wept for them. I can only imagine that losing a child at any age would feel like cutting out a portion of a mother's heart and burying it forever. When tragedy strikes, people often resort to the cliché "this was just a part of God's plan." Well no offense to those well-meaning individuals but I call bullshit on that. (And pardon my French but if you know me at all, you know that I can get a little fired up about things.) Death was never a part of God's plan. Disease, illness, sadness, loss, and heartache were never a part of God's original design. Man screwed that up. When I briefly stepped up on my soapbox with my husband, he asked "What does sin have to do with this?" I'm not saying the child sinned or the mother sinned, though surely they both have at some point because we all do. But this was not because of their sin. It was because when sin entered this perfect world that God created, it brought with it death and destruction and heartache. This is just what a broken world looks like. But that was never God's plan. God never intended for mothers to bury their children. He never even intended for children to bury their mothers. God created a world that was without sin and heartache. God is fully good. He is the full embodiment of love. His intentions are always around the idea of love. We can't begin to look at circumstances the way that He does because He sees the whole picture. He sees what is, what was, and what is yet to come. He even sees what could be, what should, and what never will be. As Christians, we have got to stop telling people in their season of mourning that this was God's plan. Because it never was. (Spoiler alert, I've read the end of the book and God loved His creation so much that He sent a Redeemer to fix the problems we create.)
I think that this is the problem of pain but also the way that God rouses us through our pain. Pain brings with it a tension and often times a demand for explanation. Why did this happen? Why did God allow it? Why didn't He stop it? The tension rouses in our souls the knowledge that this isn't the way it is supposed to be. This world wasn't created bring sorrow and pain to our souls and that's exactly why it feels so wrong. It is wrong.


Jesus said "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) How does His overcoming the world combat our problem with pain? Because when we become followers of Jesus, He inhabits our hearts. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And one of the things that I have found is the best part of this new creation is peace. Peace that comes as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), peace that is perfect (Isaiah 26:3), and my personal favorite peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Jesus further explains this peace in John 14:27 when He says "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." I read this verse some time ago and began thinking, how does the world give? The world gives temporarily. The world gives with expectation of repayment. The world gives with ulterior motives. The world gives to those who have something to give in return. This is not how Jesus gives. He gives not expecting or demanding anything in return. He does not give on a temporary basis, or out on loan, or with an interest charge. He simply gives.


Pain is a problem. It will always be a problem in this broken world. But our souls will continue to yearn for more. They yearn for the day when there is no more pain. They yearn for the completion of peace, where death is forever defeated. They yearn for the Redeemer and His promise of peace that goes beyond our earthly comprehension.

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4