Evil, pain and suffering- Religious

Every month we have a Bible study at our church on a specific topic. This month’s topic was “Where is God when bad things happen?” As foster and adoptive parents, I think this is a topic we can all relate to.

To start our discussion, our pastor gives us a question, then we all go around the room and introduce ourselves and answer the question. This is not an ongoing discussion, so the members of the group vary greatly from month to month, although there are several who are “regulars”.

The question or topic was “name a time when you have felt pain and suffering.” My immediate reaction was our abuse investigation, and losing our two foster kids. My answer changed along the way, since I was one of the last ones to speak. I realized that my life IS pain and suffering. Either struggling with my own kids, or working with parents who are in the midst of crisis. I don’t get to talk to families when they are happy and joyful. There were several moms who said they felt pain when they heard stories of child abuse and how children suffer. Some of the stories we could tell would make them weep endlessly.

After our discussion, we watch a video of various theologians who give their opinion on the topic. The beauty is, they never all agree on the topic, so you get many points of view, and it really gets you thinking.

As soon as I heard this story, I knew I had to blog about it. It was told by a man named Tex Sample. He has spoken in several other videos that we have watched, and I like listening to him speak. I hope I can sum up this story as beautifully as he spoke it.

There was a young woman who was in a classroom, and only had the use of two fingers on one arm. She would come into class and furiously take notes using only those two fingers. One day after class, the professor asked her what happened. She stated that she had polio as a child. She had been in the iron lung, and doctors felt that at best, she could have use of a few fingers. She would have to endure physical therapy, so her mother learned how to administer it at home.

Every day her mother worked her muscles, and the young woman screamed and begged her mother to stop, it hurt so badly. Mom did not stop. The young woman cried and begged her mother to stop, and her mother kept going. The young woman cursed a blue streak at her mother, and begged her to stop, and still her mother kept going. After each session, her mother went into her bedroom by herself and cried. This went on every day for a year.

The professor said that this seemed like a horrible thing to endure. The young woman said, “yes, but I have these” and moved her two fingers.

We are a lot like that mother. We do things that we know may cause our children pain, and that they may resent, but is in their best interest, and will help them in the long run. We bear their pain for them.

God bears our pain for us, so when things are tough, release it to Him.

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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