Why Does God Allow Pain?

Spill The Beans

 

Dear Jennifer,

 

I am leading your Missing Pieces Bible study at my church. We need some clarification on the conclusion of Day 1 of Week 1.

 

One lady on the first night shared that one of the questions she has of God is, “Why do I suffer with all this pain? I’m not old enough to hurt so bad.”

 

The next night we read that you wrote, “We often assume God’s apparent inactivity in our situation is evidence of His neglect [so far, so good, but . . .] when it really may be His way of showing compassion to protect you, provide for you, or preserve you.”

 

Help us understand how your quote relates to that lady’s question. Thanks a bunch. We had 23 show up for our first session. Praise His holy name!

 

Michelle

 

Jennifer’s Response:

 

Dear Michelle,

 

Thanks for your question! Here are my thoughts. That dear lady may be experiencing what seems like God’s neglect because God hasn’t removed or reduced her pain. I understand how she could feel that way. Yet, we do not know what God knows. Sometimes, out of His wisdom and mercy, he allows something like her pain to remain and in doing so, the condition may be used to protect her.

 

For example, suppose she was pain free and thus, super adventurous. Suppose she engaged in risky behavior as a result and she had a terrible accident as a result. The accident leaves her completely disabled and unable to care for her children. In that extreme example, God would be compassionately allowing her pain in order to protect her from something far worse. Make sense?

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In my case, God used the terrible situation of blindness to prep me for my calling and position me for ministry. [Click to Tweet]
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God’s ways are not my ways, so I’m not sure His reasoning. We do not always understand. We just trust. In my case, God used the terrible situation of blindness to prep me for my calling and position me for ministry. Without it, I could be a self-centered, overly ambitious woman who only cared about my own looks and success. I have no idea if that would have been the case, but can you see what I mean here? God used what I thought to be an awful situation to help me better understand a deeper dimension of who He was, how He worked, and how He wanted me to live out my purpose.

 

I hope this helps. Discuss it among yourselves and see how The Holy Spirit leads you into truth.

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

Have you ever had a hard or painful situation end up a blessing in disguise?

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