We are in the sixth week of a series called “Seriously, God? Making sense of life not making sense.” We are looking at some of the road blocks to developing a relationship with God. These are obstacles that often keep people from taking God seriously or developing faith and trust in God. 

We are looking at these hurdles so that it might open us up to a greater understanding of who God is and what he is doing. In the same way a relationship grows when we lean into misunderstanding or gaps, our connection to God can actually grow when we don’t understand him or something doesn’t make sense. 

Today we are going to look at the problem of pain and suffering. The classic argument goes like this: If God is all good and all powerful then he would not allow pain and suffering. Since there is pain and suffering in the world either God must not be all good or God is not all powerful. On its surface it seems unanswerable, like an air tight argument against Christianity.

At the same time, our dissatisfaction with pain and suffering offers a hint that we need to look again at the topic. If we have a problem with pain or a disquiet in our hearts, minds and souls with pain, it is because we believe that pain is unnatural. It’s not the way it is supposed to be. 

Pain is not a problem if there is not a loving God. If all of life came from random chance or by a God that did not love us, we would just accept pain and suffering the way a fish accepts water. We wouldn’t question it. Yet, we do. Something in us, deep in us knows that pain and suffering are not natural. They are a break with how things are supposed to be. 

That cry from our heart points us towards a deeper understanding of reality. Our hearts help us begin to see that the argument against Christianity is too narrow. It reduces our goodness and well-being simply to the absence of pain or feeling good. If feeling good is our ultimate aim and purpose in life than a good God would not allow suffering. However, we know in our heart of our hearts that feeling good is not the ultimate aim of life. We know there is more because we do things all the time that can be painful or uncomfortable – from exercise to flossing to medical exams. 

Pain does not discount a loving God. While God does not want us in pain, God uses pain for our good and the good of others. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Every pain in your life God uses for your good or the good of others.

St. Paul witnesses to this fact in his Letter to the Phillipians, which we heard from in our second reading. St. Paul is writing this letter from prison. He is imprisoned for preaching and teaching about Jesus. Suffering and loss was not theoretical for St. Paul. He experienced it personally; we was beaten several times, stoned nearly to death, and shipwrecked. Yet after all that he had suffered for the Gospel, St. Paul writes, “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7). Pain and suffering can actually lead us to the point that we know that Jesus is our Lord. It’s been said you will not know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. When everything had been stripped away from St. Paul, he developed a greater intimacy with the person of Jesus Christ.

“For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Philippians 3:8). St. Paul says he not only doesn’t care about his loss of comfort, his loss of status, his loss of physical freedom, but he considers those things rubbish in comparison to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

He continues, “To know him and the power of the resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings, by being conformed to his death” (Philippians 3:10). Wait a minute. St. Paul says he is privileged to know Jesus and wants to share in his suffering. He wants to partner in his suffering. That seems crazy. But then he says, “if somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:11). St. Paul says there is a connection with suffering and resurrection. There can be no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday.

St. Paul goes even further; “Brothers and sisters, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of the upward calling in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). St. Paul says he knows he is not there yet. The resurrection will come through the pain but that’s not where we are in the story. He says he knows that is where he is going. When he suffers, he doesn’t look at the suffering, he doesn’t give the suffering his full attention. Instead, St. Paul says he focuses on the finish line in the same way a runner in a marathon may be suffering a ton of pain, but he or she does not stop running and think about the pain. Instead they focus their eyes on the finish line. St. Paul says he focuses on Jesus and the prize of the resurrection. 

Suffering and pain are real. When we experience them it is easy for it to narrow our focus and concentrate only on our pain. We can learn from St. Paul who challenges us to widen our view and focus on the upward calling in Christ Jesus. Focus on where you are going, not where you are.

St. Paul concludes by saying, “Let us, then who are ‘perfectly mature’ adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you” (Philippians 3:15).

While pain does present a problem for Christ followers, no one can argue the Scriptures do not address pain and suffering. Over and over again the Scriptures run right into it. Perhaps of all the differences between our thoughts and God’s thoughts – it is on the subject of pain that we are most different from God. Human beings say pain discounts a good God and people who know God say pain and suffering can allow us to know God more intimately. God uses pain to raise us to new life. 

As we wrap up this series, I would like to give you an opportunity to commit or re-commit your life to Jesus Christ. To say with St. Paul that nothing compares to knowing Christ Jesus. We have looked at obstacles to faith and trust in God. While we certainly cannot answer every possible doubt and question in six weeks, maybe you are now ready to come to faith or a new level of faith in Jesus Christ.