Adventure waits for me to die again…
Recently, I spoke to a dear friend about suffering and pain given by God. And it inspired me to write. The notion discussed was whether God brings pain into our lives, or if everything bad is from the Devil. It’s funny how this idea can be so divisive and swing like a pendulum one way or the other every few years. Which I believe the Holy Spirit leads.
There is no doubt that pain can bring healing. Pain has its part in the birth of children, the building of muscle tissue, and cleaning out old wounds. It also has its part in death, abuse, and turmoil. It is difficult to make a snap-judgment like “everything good is from God and everything bad is from the Devil”. To me, it seems there are two types of pain. Suffering and Torture. But both yield to the same evidence that there is a Problem causing them. Not that pain is the issue.
Before I begin, I think it’s worth noting that the act of giving God credit for suffering “because it brought about goodness” yields to the temptation that we credit Him with all pain. With that line of thought, God killed Charlie’s mom to teach him a lesson in self-reliance. Your cough came so you can learn to slow down and rest. Barbara lost her daughter in childbirth because God needed her in heaven more than we needed her here. These statements are false. They are the act of forcing our doctrine to match our earthly experiences.
But I’m not discussing such tragedies at this moment. Those, we hopefully can attribute to an Enemy, Satan, causing death on the planet. But we will get back to that in a moment as well.
The truth is, God may give pain. In fact, he designed your body to feel pain, therefore, He knew it would come long before the Fall. It’s not like He said, “Whoops! Let Us add in this nervous system now that Adam has sinned.” Pain is evidence of a problem. Here, that Adam stubbed his toe on a rock. But Christ did not bring the problem. He brought the pain to tell you of it.
What is pain? What is suffering? These are very subjective words. What may be pain for someone may actually be pleasure for another. (And this can be further twisted and perverted by sin.)
Just as subjective and difficult to define is “happiness”. What is happiness? What is it to be happy? Is it a state of euphoria, pleasure, or joy? The happiness of any 11-year-old differs from that of a 40-year-old. Men find pleasure in different things than women. A person in poverty; another in bondage; a third in wealth—all find happiness in very different circumstances. What is the happiness of an American as opposed to an Indian or African?
If we read the Bible, we see Christ came to bring abundant life and the Enemy kills, steals, and destroys. We can all agree with that!
But the Holy Spirit killed Ananias and Sapphira on the spot for lying. Paul instructed us to “give him over to the Devil”. And, you know, all of Revelation…
And yes, I used New Testament references for those that claim “Christ fulfilled all that stuff from the Old Testament and they didn’t know what they were talking about”. I agree, many people didn’t know what they were talking about in the Old Testament because they hadn’t the Holy Spirit to reveal things to them yet. But it doesn’t remove God’s wrath and justice from the Word.
We mustn’t be afraid to trust God and ask Him troublesome questions. And in the search to answer “does God bring pain, suffering and death?”, we can lay down our personal beliefs and learn. And this whole concept, I would say I can not define perfectly. I can merely give you the revelation I’ve received, hoping that it helps. But a simple answer to every scenario is impossible.
I love used books. Books that are fifty-plus years old. I don’t mind the scratches, tears, and dings. All of that brings character to it. I feel as though I’m holding a piece of history. I have several books that are over two-hundred years old, and I cannot read them because the paper will crumble if I turn a page. But I don’t mind, because it warms my heart to see it and know I have it in my library. And I buy the same books over and over again because I love finding other copies of them. I have four copies of Perelandra (and Josh Ellis has one held hostage I demand back from him!) because I can’t get enough of holding those pages in my hands. My father likes to tell me about new books and new movies that I must read or watch, but I always let him down when I refuse to do so. Because I don’t find pleasure in a new book or new movie. Only in a good book or a good movie. And usually those are the ones I’ve already read or watched.
Videre licet, I despise Change. Let me rephrase that: I despise Change for the sake of Change.
I’ve had enough ups, downs, twists, turns, and surprises for the sake of nonsense in my life. My parents’ divorce, losing a scholarship, a sibling run away, a sibling losing faith, getting dumped, getting betrayed, car accident, car accident, car accident, car accident, car accident… first kid almost died, second kid almost died, third kid died and then raised back to life.
But God is in the change. He is in the new.
Christ refuses to let you and me stay the same person we were yesterday. And though tradition is good, I’m not meant to be a toddler anymore. We are not meant to have our mother wipe our rear ends, dad drive us to school, and whine until food comes before us.
Yet, humans typically want that if we are honest with ourselves. Having someone clean us, drive us around and provide us with food sounds very easy. The Israelites longed for slavery again because they wanted the easy life so badly. “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” (Exodus 16:3)
Change is hard. It can seem alluring and exciting at first, but it takes work to do it right. The idea of becoming more self-reliant, starting a farm, growing a garden, and getting out of debt has been nothing but an upward climb, physically, mentally and spiritually, for my family. But I see the end from the beginning. I see this being necessary in a climate that is tanking financially and demanding unified reliance on government instead of God. I’m out on that, and so should you. But it’s taking the fight to grow my own food, raise my own livestock, and squeeze every penny until there are only absolute essentials. (And lots and lots of used books.)
Change is painful. People crave predictability. We lust after everything to be hunky dory. But God has always tied the miraculous to the new, to obedience, and to embracing the difficult and walking through the desert.
Abraham had to get up and move everything he owned and go to a place he’d never been before. He had to sacrifice his son on the altar (he might not have literally, but he surely did ultimately in his heart before the knife met the skin.)
Joseph was sold into slavery and imprisoned to discover wisdom and power.
Isaac fought through betrayal and manipulation, and had to move his entire life multiple times.
David lived in caves, fought giants, wrestled lions, and won wars.
Daniel faced every day wondering whether he should continue praying or yield to his king and friend.
Jonah was swallowed by a fish!
Esther had to stand up and die or watch everyone she loved eliminated.
Rahab risked everything for two men climbing a rope.
The disciples left everything and followed!
Jesus turned the whole world upside down. He is the Stumbling Stone, the thing that makes no sense, but holds the whole world in His hands.
Are you going to tell me that Jonah should have prayed against that fish that ate him and its stomach acid was his only food for three days? He should have cursed the fish that God sent for him?
When we read the Bible, we see that every time someone is trying to hold on to the past, for the sake of holding on to the past, sin and death follow.
Lot’s Wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
We want to talk about all the old things that God did. And please don’t misinterpret that I think people did it wrong in the past. God, help me! We need to crave holiness and righteousness like our grandparents and great-grandparents did! We need that in us.
But I’m talking about how we chase after God, not whether we should at all! Looking at the past is Good. Testimony is good. The act of standing up and sharing your testimony is powerful. But it’s not the power. It’s just the reminder of the power.
God said it like this, “Forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new.” Isaiah 43:18-19
And when I come to this moment, I realize my thoughts betray me again. Because the act of changing for the sake of changing is just as sinful. So much of the church is demanding we “progress” and give up on trusting the Word anymore. I hear preachers sharing ideas that “it’s time we really stop disputing evolution, because we just look foolish. Admit it’s accuracy already.” These “progressive” insights that somehow-ordained ministers teach to interpret Genesis as nothing more than literary poetry. Theology professors are teaching that when God questioned Job with “who formed the world?”, it’s because He isn’t sure Himself and it could have been any number of other gods. Bathrooms are gender neutral, so we attract more people; homosexuals are ordained for the sake of inclusion.
What’s inclusive about the Word of God?
Absolutely, it is for the world that Christ died. He wants all of us. But don’t be fooled into thinking this Theosophic/Buddhist/Universalist invasion that has raped and pillaged our westernized world will be allowed across the pearly gates. Our pastors and flock are watching Marvel and Disney movies more than they are reading the Word, and now those under-the-surface demonic ideals are interlaced all over our beliefs. And we can’t tell our hand from our anus, and the tithe from the offering, or intercession from rebuke. Preachers talk about Demons as a “concept”, and use them to manipulate others into submission. God, help us!
Changing for the sake of changing is just as bad as holding onto the past for the sake of the past. We don’t do it for that reason. We hold on to the past because God is telling us to. Or we change because God is telling us to. The Past and the Change have no power. God, in it, does.
If all we ever do is try to hold on to the past, we will idolize it. We will lose the purpose of what we had and why it was great. If all we ever do is yield to the easy way, because we will look foolish if we don’t or have a difficult time in life, we are going to go to Hell. No “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts”. Follow Him. Or follow literally anything else to Hell.
Which leads me to the abhorrent fruit that God gives us with change and trusting Him.
“…the fruit of the Spirit is…long-suffering…” (Galatians 5:22)
Long-suffering. The etymology roots all the way back to a few words that mean “lengthy”-“death or passion”.
If you’ve heard me speak or write about passion, you know I’m quite fervent in my belief of its power. (If not, read it here in full). Christ went to the cross full of this “lengthy” “passion”. We save the world through our passion. This suffering is rooted in it. Passion itself is not positive nor negative. It is defined as pain or pleasure that comes from good or bad.
Therefore, we can extrapolate on this idea that pain itself is not negative. Merely neutral. No doubt, pain is uncomfortable. But “bad” or “evil” is the wrong way to understand it. Instead, we should attribute the cause of pain as the “bad” or “evil”. For instance, Christ had joy in going to the cross. Because His pain was demolishing the evil fate of mankind. If I were to pinch your skin, you may feel pain. But you would not pray for your nerves to stop feeling pain. You would simply slap my hand away and stop the cause of the pain. Pain is a signal sent to your brain through nerves that something is wrong. Furthermore, it may be beyond physical pain you endure. It may be emotional, psychological or spiritual.
If you attack the pain, you attack the incorrect thing. This is why medicines, narcotics, and self-help will never measure up to the solution. Numbing your senses with narcotics or a love-bomb doesn’t solve whatever spiritual or psychological attack you may be under. It simply takes the pain away temporarily. Until the problem finds a new way to hurt you.
I hear Christians pray for pain or discomfort to leave. And I cringe at the words. Pain is not the problem. The cancer is the problem. Curse the cancer. Curse the abuse. Curse the devil. Curse foolishness, addiction, etc. Don’t curse the one thing revealing it to you.
Christ is not in the business of taking your suffering away. If He was, He wouldn’t have set you and me up to face so much tribulation. He would have taken us from the planet the moment we said “yes” to Him in our hearts. He does, however, want us to grow. And through growth, we will endure much pain. The same pain that I would feel stretching and using my muscles. And the longer I waste my life in mediocrity, the more I let atrophy deflate my muscles. And hence, I have greater pain when I finally start using them again. If I were to pump myself full of drugs to numb the pain, I would only do my body a disservice. And many Christians are doing this very act!
So what can we really do about all this pain?
Confront it. Stop ignoring it. Do now what you need to do then. Or in other words, do what you know is righteous and true in Heaven—no matter how uncomfortable or difficult—as you know, you must do it eventually. If you know you will live a life in Heaven on your knees worshipping the Father, do that now. Do you believe your addiction will be in Heaven? Do you believe your bitterness will be tolerated across the threshold of the pearly gates? Are you serious that you think lewdness, side-glances and temptation will survive eternity? Do now what you will do then. Live a life of righteousness and stop giving yourself the excuse that you are permitted a few vices as long as you meet a notch above absolute mediocrity. Mediocrity! No wonder Christ said He’d rather you hot or cold. Mediocrity might as well be in the depths of Hell already, for you surely can’t feel or sense anything anymore.
If you have pain, ask why? Stop picking up your phone or pill to ignore it. Confront the conflict and face it head on. People are afraid of a little quiet, because that’s where their thoughts get loud.
I know you are suffering. And I know it is difficult. Christ knows. This season could be your hardest, if you’ll let it. Wouldn’t that be wonderful! For there is greatness on the far side of difficult. It’s the hard that makes it great.
Though, I suppose someone could refuse to let their hands get dirty, splintered, or calloused. You could always choose to have an easy, mundane, mediocre life. That is a choice of yours.
Or you could choose to run across a field full of stumbling stones. For Jesus, our Savior, who is both the Stumbling Stone and Rock of Offense, is also our Comforter, Shield, and Protector.
You may lose a lot if you trust God with everything. But Christ said follow Me. Not a formula, ideal, or movement. Those things require barely time or money. Christ requires all of your life, and the ability to suffer greatly for it. And you will certainly gain all He has in store for you, which is greater than you could hope, dream, or imagine. And it may not be this season, the next, or this lifetime that you even see the fruit of it. What right do you have for an answer, anyway? This is the God of the Universe you are demanding a comfy life from! Nonetheless, the fruit is promised, and if Christ promised it, then it will come.
Adventure waits
for me to die again
The time of death and the death of time
Adventure stands
without reason or rhyme
I must commit
to remain uncommitted
My soul must long
to never long again
My dreams too great
yet never great enough
Adventure waits
Adventure waits
My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees. (Psalm 119:71)
For the joy set before Him He endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)
Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. (2 Corinthians 1:6)
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” (Job 38:1-4)
PostScript:
I recognize that there is verily the argument of prayers and miracles that a new Christian may see or experience when praying for pain to go. To this I would reply three explanations. One: someone young in the faith should always expect to see more miracles and more revelation than someone long in the faith; as Christ expects a newborn to grow rapidly with little effort compared to an adult. Two: Christ will always meet us at our understanding. If revelation and instruction aren’t available to the believer, He does not need certain words or phrases to be said in order to perform a miracle. He is not a genie, after all, but a personal living and present Spirit. And Three: God will do whatever He wants to do. And that is the point of all of this. If we are locking Him into a box, He will stop talking until we let Him back out.
Keith G. Alderman 