where is god in my pain?...the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!...
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Where is God in
my pain?
Written by Ross Wakeley
How does
Easter help me with the issues in my life?
2
Pain, suffering and fear
It‟s a compelling image—a family heads for a chopper to be
flown out of their home, as it‟s engulfed by floods. A lifetime
of possessions and memories have been swept away—what
they carry is now all they own. Life may never be the same.
Fast facts on the Queensland flood crisis
DEATHS: A total of 30 people confirmed.
BRISBANE: 11,900 homes and 2500 businesses totally
flooded. 14,700 homes partly flooded. In a city of two
million, 67 suburbs affected. 4,500 in emergency centres.
IPSWICH: 2000 homes and 1000 businesses affected.
REGIONAL CENTRES: 86 towns and cities in Queensland
affected by flooding. 75% of state railway lines wrecked.
SERVICES: 100,000 homes without electricity. 92 schools
across Queensland had at least one building flooded.
COST: Over $20 billion.
3
This is the main street of Toowoomba on the 10th January.
Over 100mm rain in 60 minutes produces an “inland tsunami”
and life went from normal to scary in a split second. Cars
were swept along roads where flood water rose 7 metres in
minutes. This truckie saw a woman in crisis—and moved his
truck to blockade the water from sweeping this woman away.
She was rescued as was the lady in this window. There were
other people who didn‟t make it. How do you process this?
4
What do you tell the kids when everything has been taken by
a flood? How do you start again when the insurance company
refuses to pay you to get started again? Where do you turn?
Mark Kempton has
felt the raw pain of
this crisis. A chopper
pilot for 26 years, he
leads the Emergency
Management team
in Queensland.
He and his crew
rescued 28 people
in 2½ hours—they
saved people from
being swept away.
We’d say he’s a hero.
5
Imagine you‟ve walked this
road of pain. How do you
handle this overwhelming
grief, suffering and loss?
However, Mark feels he is a real
failure. Why? He can't forget a
pregnant woman whose baby
was torn from her arms by flood-
waters moments before he saved
her. He winched her to safety in
the Lockyer Valley after floods
hit the area. Then Mark saw her
grief. "She told us her child had
been in her arms, but the water
was so powerful the child was
torn out of her arms. That was
just heartbreaking."
In tears, Mark added: "It was devastating to see and the most
difficult thing I think we've ever had to do. I've never been so
emotional in all my 26 years of flying for those people, for the
lives lost, and the fact that we couldn't save them all."
Some religious people fall
back on empty clichés like,
„Turn your scars into stars‟.
They leave us feeling alone,
judged and empty. It‟s a
pathetic and lazy response
that makes me feel ill.
Let‟s consider a more honest
approach to suffering.
Reflection: What’s caused you
pain in your life?
6
This painting captures some of the response to the questions:
Where is God in my pain?
How does Easter help me with the issues in my life?
A beginning point to the answer is that God is with us in our
pain. In our suffering. We are not abandoned.
St George is
a Queensland
town that was
flooded more
than once.
A church put
up this sign
and backed it
up with action
that showed
people LOVE.
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God is with us—how do I know that‟s true?
Jesus had equal status with God but didn't think so much of
himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status
no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside
the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave,
became human! Having become human, he stayed human.
It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special
privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then
died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death
at that: a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:6-9, The Message)
If we look at the life of Jesus, we discover the brilliant
and true story of how God comes to find you and I:
In the middle of our sorrow and pain
Trapped by our disappointments
Feeling betrayed by the pain of life
God never leaves us where he finds us—unless we insist.
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Jesus may be with us, but does he understand my pain?
Do you remember the
scene in The Terminator
movie where someone
wants to dump their
pain on the cyborg
assassin—Arnold
Schwarzenegger. In a
memorable quote, he
says, “Talk to the hand”.
Jesus’ empathy when a friend dies
In John 11, we have this story—
Lazarus was sick. He was from
Bethany, the town of Mary and her
sister Martha. So the sisters sent
word to Jesus, "Master, the one
you love so very much is sick."
When Jesus got there, he found
Lazarus already four days dead.
As we read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, we discover
that Jesus did have amazing empathy with individual people
and their suffering. In addition, we find that Jesus invited
people to process their emotional issues with him. There is
never a time when Jesus says, “talk to the hand”. We find that
Jesus really heard people‟s shock, anger, fear, loss or trauma.
Mary came to where Jesus was and said, "Master, if only you
had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus
saw her sobbing...a deep anger welled up within him. He said,
"Where did you put him?" "Master, come and see," they said.
Now Jesus wept. They said, "Look how deeply he loved him."
(John 11:1-36, The Message)
9
Earlier that day, when Jesus
arrived at Bethany, Martha had
heard from Jesus an incredible
statement of hope:
I am, right now, Resurrection
and Life. The one who believes in
me, even though he or she dies,
will live. And everyone who lives
believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe
this?" "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are
the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world”.
(John 11:25-27, The Message)
Jesus arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside
with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the
stone." They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to
heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have
listened to me. I know you always
do listen, but on account of this
crowd standing here I've spoken
so that they might believe that
you sent me." Then he shouted,
"Lazarus, come out!" And he came
out, wrapped from head to toe, and
with a cloth over his face. Jesus told
them, "Unwrap him and let him
loose." (John 11:1-44, The Message)
Knowing that God has real
empathy in the middle of
our suffering is good news.
It‟s also encouraging to be
given hope.
Does Jesus make a positive
difference to the issues of
life...or is it all just talk?
10
He makes this promise to each person—
God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake
you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5),6
God is with us through our
relationship with Jesus
Lazarus, Mary, Martha and
Jesus‟ disciples proved from
their experience that God
can be trusted and that he
is with us. He invites us into
a relationship of security.
As people in pain, at times the
truth that God is with us may
not be what we are feeling.
When we are caught up in our
suffering or ________ (you fill
in the blank), we can loose
sight of feeling God‟s love. We
can feel so alone and hurting.
Does God know what
that feels like? He does.
During his crucifixion,
Jesus cried out in a
loud voice, “My God,
my God, why have
you forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:46)
Jesus has been there.
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How we see God influences the way
you and I handle suffering and pain
Pain, suffering, injustice and abuse can
leave us feeling that it must be some-
one‟s fault. We know it‟s never our fault,
we‟ll just shift the blame—so we give
God one huge mouthful...
“It‟s all YOUR fault God!” There is a long line of people going back
thousands of years who‟ve blamed God.
Job’s story
Job is a man in the Old Testament
section of the Bible. We‟re told he was
a wealthy man—7,000 sheep, 3,000
camels and a huge staff of servants.
Job was „the most influential man in
his region.‟ Then it all went bad.
Disaster struck him unexpectedly. Bang! Bang! Bang came the
news. „All of your livestock have died or been stolen!‟ „Many of
your servants got killed by lightning strikes!‟ „Job, your home
collapsed and many of your
children have been killed!‟
Then Job got a skin disease,
leaving him painful sores
all over his body.
Job knew what it feels like
when tragedy like bushfire,
flood or a health crisis
strikes us. We feel shattered.
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At the heart of our pain is a belief that we can‟t trust God. We
start believing the lie: he isn‟t good and he is punishing us. In
walking down that path, we‟re conned into a false view of God..
In our pain, we can yell
at God, “It‟s YOUR fault!”
Job did: I feel worn down.
God, you have wasted me
totally—me and my family!
People take one look at me
and gasp. And God just
stands there and lets them
do it, lets wicked people do
what they want with me.
(Job 16:7-12, The Message)
In the middle of our over-
whelming pain, loss and
suffering, it‟s really easy to
believe our emotions alone.
Job recovered his balance
when God came to him.
Heard his pain. Job found
out that God‟s enemy—
Satan—was behind all the
tragedy Job experienced.
How can we get balance
when our world turns upside
down and pain engulfs our
emotions and thinking?
Reflection: Have you found
this in your life?
How did you cope?
Do we accept
the illusion
of what I feel
is the truth?
13
Long before God laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus
of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.
Long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the
celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:4-6 (The Message)
Jesus said, “If
you hold to my
teaching, you
are really my
disciples. Then
you will know
the truth, and
the truth will
set you free.”
John 8:31,32
It all begins with
a love story.
God acting to share
with all mankind the
love, joy, hope and
freedom Father, Son
and Spirit experienced.
Father
Jesus Holy Spirit
We‟re adopted into the We‟re adopted into the
centre of God‟s love in centre of God‟s love in
a circle of relationshipa circle of relationship
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The Shack is
the best book I
know to help us
get answers on
suffering. It‟s an
honest, incredibly
helpful story. Ten
million copies!
It‟s common for us to blame God for our suffering and tell God to
fix the problem. In our pain, we can miss reality. What do I mean?
Imagine you‟ve been booked by the police for speeding. We go
through the cycle of emotions: shock, denial, anger, „it's not my
fault!‟ Mankind does the same thing: we blame God for our stuff.
Paul Young, author of The Shack, says:
“People often embrace fear, pain, power and
rights in our relationships. We center our lives
around things that leave us feeling empty.
We‟re addicted to power and the illusion of
security that power offers. When a disaster
happens, we‟ll turn against the false powers
we trusted. In our disappointment, we‟ll either
become softened toward God („Help God, I
need to be rescued‟), or we become bolder
in our independence („You‟ve let me down,
so go away God, I‟m better off on my own‟.)”
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Life quickly teaches us to
look at everything from our
perspective. When we do
that, we falsely see God as
the one who abandons us in
our struggles and someone
we can‟t trust.
We decide that if God causes
suffering, then he really can‟t
be good, so we walk away
from a relationship with him.
God doesn't send us an
email or form a taskforce.
He comes himself
into this world.
Maximum vulnerability—
God comes as a baby to
a down-to-earth couple.
God with us.
So WHAT has
God done to
fix things?
He could have
sat around
and just had
another beer
with his mates.
Instead, God
took action.
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“The Spirit of the Lord is on
me. He has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favour.” (Luke 4:18,19)
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was with
God in the beginning. Through
him all things were made; with
out him nothing was made that
has been made.
Jesus was in the world, and though
the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him…
To all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God—The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)
In his actions and teaching,
Jesus showed people the
reality of God’s character.
He healed the sick
Fed the hungry
Spoke against injustice
Raised the dead
Loved the marginalized
Set people free
17
Jesus Christ had a clear purpose:
"I came that you may have
life, and have it abundantly."
John 10:10
Jesus declared that he came to
"give his life to rescue many
people." Mark 10:45.
In John‟s account, Jesus says
he came so that, "those who
believed in him would have
eternal life." John 3:16
A photographer caught the moment as Hannah was swept
away and it was feared mum and daughter had drowned.
Rescuing people from suffering, pain and death sounds great,
BUT it is costly. Every time we have a disaster, and a man or
woman puts their life „on the line‟ to rescue someone, it costs!
Aussies witnessed the rescue
efforts of many during the
January floods. One dramatic
story has its focus on Hannah
and her mum Kathryn, who
were trapped in their car by
Toowoomba‟s flash flood.
Their car was pushed into a
power pole by the eight metre
raging torrent. The shocked
women climbed onto their car
roof, but were washed away.
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Now the good news...
Steven Seefeld and Jason Iacono
arrived on site, minutes before
the flood. "We were watching
when Hannah came past us."
With outstretched arms, Steven
and Jason managed to grab
Hannah‟s hands and haul her to
safety. "Once we got her over, she
managed to splutter out that her mum was still out there.
"We just managed to see her mother being
washed down the street. She was right out
in the middle of it." Both men waded out into
the water to reach Kathryn, who‟d grabbed
a power pole. "We brought her in," Steven
said (photo). "A couple more seconds and
she wouldn't have had the energy to hang
on, and she would have been gone. Mother
and daughter were so glad to be together!”
Reflection: How does that story impact you?
Have you been rescued? Have you rescued some
one else. How did you cope emotionally?
Rescue efforts
come in many
ways. A slice of
chocolate cake to
weary workers in
the floods goes
down pretty well!
Let’s look at the
ultimate rescue.
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Jesus—God in human form—
knew that man had taken a
relationship with God and
turned it into religion.
That is never God‟s idea—he
hates religion. It is a pathetic
substitute of rules to give
the illusion of salvation.
In reality, it is a relationship
with Jesus that brings us
real life, hope, freedom and
salvation. And God will go
down any road to help us
meet Jesus and get rescued.
Jesus came to rescue us Jesus came to rescue us
How can a man lying on a Cross rescue me? And how is the
death of Jesus Christ relevant to my suffering and life today?
However, the price of our rescue was beyond awesome.
In his public life, Jesus made it clear to his followers what
was about to happen to him. Everything written in the
Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. He will be
handed over to the Romans...they will kill him. In three
days he will rise, alive." (Luke 18:31-34, The Message)
20
Everything Jesus said
would happen occurred.
His betrayal, arrest,
trial, harsh flogging
and crucifixion.
The images of Jesus‟
death—although so
shocking—can
become familiar.
We may miss
the full reality of all
he did on that Cross
for you and I.
It was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the
things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on him
self, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But
it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore
and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and
that made us whole. (Isaiah 53:4-6, The Message)
On that Cross, it was God suffering for you and I.
21
The Ultimate Rescue
It‟s staggering, but true. God became a man and took on him
self all the judgment, sin, suffering and death that belonged
to mankind. He choose to pay the total price of justice. We
deserved death, however God‟s nature is goodness and love.
He went beyond the justice we deserve to suffer for us and
rescue us from our fears, emptiness, religion and pain.
Reflection: How does the death of Jesus impact you?
What response do you have to the fact that
God chose to suffer for us on the Cross?
As the first light of the new week dawned,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came
to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the
earth rocked under their feet as God's
angel came down from heaven, came
right up to where they were standing. He
rolled back the stone and then sat on it.
This story has a
happy ending...
for Jesus and
you and I
22
On the Cross, Jesus Christ took on
himself the punishment for all our
rebellion against God and selfishness
towards other people—past, present,
and future. For every person. It was
all dumped on Jesus, and he was the
perfect rescuer. He also took on himself
all our suffering, pain and injustice.
Jesus suffers for us
Jesus suffers with us
The angel spoke to the women: "There is
nothing to fear here. I know you're looking
for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross.
He is not here. He was raised, just as he
said. Come and look at the place where he
was placed. Now, get on your way quickly and
tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead.”
The women, full of joy, lost no time in leaving
the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then
Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks.
"Good morning!" he said. They fell to their
knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him.
(Matthew 28:1-9, The Message)
Three days after Jesus‟ terrible
crucifixion, the Easter miracle
happened. Christ conquered
rebellion and death. He rose
physically from the dead as it
had no power over Him. God
proved in his actions his
amazing love for every person.
23
It was a defining speech. Choose to
make a transition from being a victim,
to being an overcomer. Make the choice
to act together, and we‟ll make it.
Easter is God acting so that you and
I can make a positive choice.
We know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The reality that God is able to work incredible
good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn‟t
mean he caused the tragedy. If our perception
is that God was the cause of the suffering,
we‟ll start thinking God isn‟t good and can‟t be
trusted. Human history has multiple examples
of where God works to bring life out of death;
to bring freedom out of our brokenness and
pain and turn darkness into new life.
Invite Jesus to step into your life with love.
"We are the people they breed tough north of the border.
We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again.
Together we can pull through this.''
At the worst point in the
flood crisis, Anna Bligh
said thousands of people
in SE Queensland faced
"unbelievable agony."
The Premier fought
back tears as she talked
from her heart: "I want
us to remember who
we are," she said.
Scripture quotations are taken from
The Holy Bible, New International Version ®
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993-2002.
Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group
Acknowledgements: Photo‟s—Passion movie, internet, author
Booklet © 2011, Ross Wakeley
Life can be incredibly painful
We all have choices to make—we
can choose to stay in our place of
suffering, or open our life to some
light. To real hope and breakthrough.
Interested?
This booklet is one starting point to
help with the issues we all face from
pain and suffering. Welcome to the
adventure of discovering hope.
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