How could such a loving, caring and merciful God allow for there to be so much suffering and pain on earth? This question has been asked for centuries, and even today is one of the most commonly asked questions by those who are exploring God.
To understand and study the magnitude of this question can be very complex and detailed, but in my simplistic mind, my response focuses around the fact that there is good and evil existing in our world today. There is a constant battle going on from the beginning of the creation of the world. The first sin from Adam and Eve set the course for humanity - a broken reality that sin will destroy.
So yes, the answer is sin - it is because of sin that we have pain and suffering in the world. We are a broken people and all in need of a Savior. The beautiful thing about looking to Christ as our Savior is that we have hope in the midst of trials, we have peace in the middle of turbulent times, we have assurance that this is not our home and one day we will be reunited with our heavenly Father where there will be no pain or suffering. Oh, I long for that day! Do you?
Do you have hope that God can meet you at your point of need of pain and suffering? Do you have the hope that no matter how difficult our life might become that there is a God who cares for you? Do you have hope for a redeemer to save you from your sorrows?
This weekend in worship we will be singing a song that speaks directly to this topic of pain and suffering. The story surrounding this song has to be one of the most life-changing stories about hope I have ever read. Journey with me as we look at the scripture behind this song and hear the story of Horatio G. Spafford - "It Is Well"
Romans 8:18-28 says,
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul suggests that something good always comes of something bad. Indeed, a few verses later he affirms that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Scripture proposes that, despite the painful circumstances in which we often find ourselves, God can somehow use them for his and our good.
Take a minute to watch this quick video about the author of this amazing song of faith ad hope through the adversity of life in pain and suffering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvq3pYsHidA
Here are the words to this amazing song by Horatio G. Spafford - "It Is Well"
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
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