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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
The Blessing of Pain
What would you think of a mother who publicly said:
“I would give anything, absolutely anything for my daughter to be able to feel pain.”
Deranged? Abusive? Wicked? Not this time. The best interests of her daughter were in those words. Why? Her daughter has a rare malady known as CIPA, or a congenital insensitivity to pain. Consequently, she, and others similarly afflicted, are slow to respond to wounds that occur because they cannot feel pain, from a broken bone, burned flesh, joint injuries, etc. And, since they feel no pain, they do not realize that their actions can hurt others, and they often do so unwittingly.
I became aware of this malady several years ago when thinking through the problem of God’s role in man’s suffering. It is obvious that some pain can be beneficial, and a “blessing” for all. Our ability to feel pain, fear, to grieve, to be aware of danger and all the accompanying cautions are a blessing. Even the most ardent unbeliever knows this is so. We, as that little girl, are served well by our sensitivity to pain. That same mother stated, “Pain is the body’s alarm system, and my daughter doesn’t have it.” We certainly do not seek pain, nor should we deliberately inflict pain on others or ourselves, but it is wise that we recognize pain as an ally, a friend, without which we are in danger.
Even in the days of Gideon, man questioned God’s wisdom. When told, “The Lord is with thee,” Gideon responded:
“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? Now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites!” Judges 6:12-13
Gideon did not approve of God’s way of taking care of His people. What Gideon did not consider was the fact that their problems were the direct result of their failure to do what God had told them to do, namely, to drive out the former inhabitants of the land.
Today, some have used recent tsunami disasters as a means of propping up their “reasons” for denying the existence and sovereignty of God. Man has become very bold in telling God that He has “made a big mistake.” Bible writers make it clear that man is not in a position to “reply against” God (Romans 9:14-22).
It may be that we, seeking to gird up a believer’s faith, find only glib, pat answers for events that take place. We should consider Paul’s statements in Romans 11:33-34:
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counselor?”
Too many times I have had to say, “I don’t know” when asked about the ways of Jehovah. There is much I can know; in fact, “all things which pertain to life and godliness” are available to me in God’s Word, 2 Peter 1:3. But we often want more, search for more and are frustrated when we do not find every answer to every question. Scripture provides us with that which equips us “for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:17.
God has used natural means to warn, to punish and motivate (see Amos, chapter 4). Is that a biblical and plausible explanation? In the past God has allowed the wicked to conquer His own people (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6). He could do that again. You and I should think about that!
You know as well as I do that many humans have concluded that all pain is evil, and all pleasure is good. Neither is correct. This is the foundation of atheism’s “problem of evil” argument. They deny the God of the Bible exists because they or others suffer pain, or that “wicked events” happen, or evil men harm good men. They say if God does exist, evil would never prevail, and suffering would end.
However, physical pain warns us of a malfunction in our body. Pain in our spirit can reveal our flaws, change our minds and sharpen our resolve for faithfulness to God. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” that tested and proved him. Though Job was terribly afflicted, “The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning,” Job 42:12.
Only 35 cases of CIPA are known in the United States. It is, indeed, a rare affliction. Though some may think it would be a blessing to be completely free from pain, as we have seen, there is a true blessing in having the capacity to “hurt,” to feel pain at times.
That little girl, and the others who suffer from CIPA, live brief lives, and soon are completely disabled.
I’m glad “pain pills” are available, but pain can be a blessing, too. We need to realize that the gift of pain is indeed a blessing.
Editor’s Note: Information on CIPA can be found in Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, Paul Brand. Also, see People Magazine, January 5, 2005, pp. 99-101.
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“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.”
“Suffering is the seed from which compassion grows.”
“My strength is made perfect in weakness…I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions…when I am weak, then am I strong.”
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The Swelling of the Jordan
Of all the brilliant passages in the eloquent book of Jeremiah, one of the finest moments comes in chapter 12. In the fifth verse of that stanza, the weeping prophet asks Judah how she expects to be successful when Babylon swoops down from the northern territory to conquer when Judah has not even been able to please God in a time of peace! When the hordes of the Chaldeans arrived, Judah would be no problem for Nebuchadnezzar to defeat. When the Jordan overflowed its banks due to flooding, the grass and weeds grew tall enough for wild beasts to hide therein. This time, however, the teeming masses of Babylonian soldiers should be fiercer than lions and tigers. For seventy long years they would hold sway over Abraham’s seed because of the spiritual stupor Judah had cultivated for years and years. Just a casual perusal of the great treatise by Jeremiah will chronicle the decline of the Jews (2 Kgs. 16:6) that came to fruition in Babylon six centuries before Christ.
The boiling cauldron of God’s wrath was poured out upon a nation that obeyed not Jehovah (Jere. 7:23-28). Like a senseless, ungrateful wife (2:32), Judah sought lovers from among the heathen nations. So great was this apostasy that Jeremiah could not find even one man in Jerusalem that was loyal (Jere. 5:1). Instead of partaking of the perennial spring of heaven’s goodness, God’s unfaithful bride built cisterns with polluted water that just made them sicker (Jere. 2:13).
“In my weakness I turn to the fount
From the Rock that was smitten for me,
And I drink, and I joyfully count
All my trials a blessing to me
I thirst, let me drink
Of the life-giving stream,
Let me drink.”
But Judah turned more and more to enemy nations and even served their pagan deities. They were strong in the land but not for truth, Jere. 9:3. Striving to guide themselves, they became fools, Jere. 8:9; 10:23. A very interesting passage of Scripture is found in Jere. 22:8-9 where the people ask why God allowed the overthrow of Jerusalem. The answer: “Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.”
How utterly shallow had become their lives. They had truly reaped what they had sown and now would wallow in the quagmire of their own vanity. So devastating was their decline that the tears of Jeremiah found fruition in one of the plaintive cries of Lamentations (4:5): “They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.”
Judah had gone from riches to rags – from grandeur to garbage!
“In the desert of sorrow and sin
Lo! I faint as I journey along;
With the warfare without and within,
See my strength and my hope nearly gone.”
What would Jerusalem do in the swelling of the Jordan? Since they had not been close to the Creator in times of peace and plenty, it was rather predictable that they would crumble in the onslaught of Babylon. As the temple was sacked and burned, 2 Kings 25:9, and the dreadful journey toward 7 years of bondage began, it became increasingly difficult to “sing the Lord’s song in a strange land,” Ps. 137:4. A faithful remnant that had sown in tears would one day reap in joy, Ps. 126:5. However, multitudes perished because they attempted to direct their own steps, Jere. 10:23.
Today many church members do not remain faithful to the Lord even in the midst of financial prosperity and peaceful conditions. What will they do in the swelling of the Jordan” If we cannot remain loyal as Christians now, what will the tragic end be when overt persecution comes? Judah was God’s unfaithful bride then. The church is the bride of Christ today, Ephesians 5:32-33. We had best not wait until adversity strikes to determine our strength and commitment. Longfellow was very succinct:
“Sorrow and silence are strong,
And patient endurance is godlike.”
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