As we embrace this Lenten season,  we realize that as Christians, we are not exempt from the natural causes of a fallen world or the progression of a poor environment or bad habits. Pain and suffering are consequences of the Fall. Our world is full of disease, illness, violence, abuse, and all sorts of pain. Scripture tells us that even creation groans in this fallen state.

Throughout the ages, people of all kinds have grappled with why a good and loving God allows suffering. Why does an 11-year-old die of cancer, why is a baby born with genetic deformities, or why do some people struggle with serious mental illness? Sometimes, there are no answers except to say that we live after the Fall in which disease, brokenness and pain are present.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus reminds us, that in this world, we will have trouble. At the medical school, we teach students how to deal with trouble –the trouble of disease, the trouble of brain changes from addiction, the trouble of genetic predispositions, illness of all sorts and brokenness in mind and spirit. Still, we must come to terms with what it means to suffer this side of heaven.

Teresa of Avila, a nun in the 1500s experienced great pain through contracting malaria. Amazingly, her prayer life led her to experience joy and peace despite the pain. She once said that our greatest struggle in prayer is when God feels silent. Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk, also noted that when God seems absent, we don’t realize He may be more present. Those difficult moments of darkness in our soul can lead us to depend on God’s power, not our own.

We need someone bigger than ourselves to help transcend suffering and to understand who God is. He doesn’t downplay the suffering we face. He doesn’t tell us not to hurt or minimize our pain. The prophet Isaiah reminds us He is acquainted with our grief.  The promise in this part of His story is that His presence will walk us through pain and suffering to the other side.

Bestselling author, Philip Yancey, asks the question, Where is God When it Hurts?  His answer: God is in us. He hasn’t abandoned us or forgotten us even though it may feel that way during times of difficulty. Peter Kreef, in his book, Making Sense Out of Suffering, comes to the same conclusion as Yancey. God gave us himself. And while it may not seem like God is better than any pill or advice we can offer, He has the power to heal, to stop anxiety, to trade hope for despair and bring joy out of sorrow.

With God, there is always hope—a way of escape, healing or joy and peace in the middle of difficulty.  God can use pain and evil to bring about good. Pain draws us close to Him, often makes us desperate for Him, and reminds us of our weakness and dependence on Him. C.S. Lewis says, “God whispers in our pleasure, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.” For those of you in pain,  there is a lot of shouting going on. But in that suffering, if we listen, pain can be transformed and bring humility, trust, faith and even gratitude to our life.

We may not like the process, but suffering often refines us. Suffering can grow our faith if we approach it in an honest way with God. When we suffer, there can be a deepening in our walk and a new intimacy with God.  When we suffer, there seems to be an opening of our soul and a cry for God’s help in our life. We tend to experience God at a deeper level. There are times when God allows suffering for a greater purpose to be accomplished in us and even others. Our response to this is what we control.

 It may be difficult to hang on to faith in light of suffering, but the alternative is despair. A world without God, a person without God can easily fall into despair. Those of us who know God, still cry out as the psalmist did, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?” But after the lament, the psalmist concludes that he is not forgotten and that his suffering matters to God. God is present and will sustain him.