His Plan for Our Pain

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| His Love in Suffering series |

• His Companionship in Our Distress
• His Plan for Our Pain
• Why We Suffer
• Rejoice in Suffering

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In the last post, we explored how God does not always display His love by preventing suffering in our lives.  Rather, He shows His love to us by comforting us through our sufferings.  In that post, I mentioned that I would like to bring this idea to life through a few stories.  As I think about people in the Bible that God loved who suffered, it’s hard to ignore the plight of the Israelites in Egypt.  It becomes the most real to me when I imagine the life of a Hebrew woman named Jochebed told in Exodus 2.

When Jochebed got married, Israel was already enslaved by the Egyptians.  The population of the Israelites had grown tremendously in the generations following Joseph; so much so that Pharaoh began to fear them.  This was why the Egyptians ruthlessly enslaved them and made their lives bitter with hard labor.  When Pharaoh saw that they continued to grow in number, he made a terrible decree that, if any of his people saw a Hebrew boy then they were commanded to throw him into the Nile river.  You can imagine the fear that Jochebed had when she found that she was pregnant, not knowing if it was a boy or a girl.  It had to be such an emotional moment of overwhelming love and joy, but also terrible fear when she saw that she had given birth to a beautiful baby boy.  She must have felt sheer panic every time he cried out during the three months that she hid him.  She knew that she couldn’t hide him forever, so she made a basket into a life raft and placed him in the Nile, leaving her daughter to keep an eye on him from the bank.  I can only imagine how torn she must have felt when she heard him crying as she walked away from the basket in the river.  This was somehow his best chance at survival because of the indescribably awful reality that was her life.  I wonder if she thought to herself, “Where is God? Does He not see what’s happening? Does He not care?”

All the Israelites likely felt the same; in fact, I think we all feel this way at times.  The disciples certainly did whenever Jesus was asleep while the waves were crashing into the boat.  “They woke Him and said to him ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” It’s easy to wonder if God cares that we are hurting.  God answers this question for the Israelites but also for all of us, “God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice [of them] and was concerned about them [knowing all, understanding all, remembering all].” If we continue with the story of Jochebed, we can see how God noticed and cared for her.  Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket and took pity on the baby when she saw him crying, knowing that he was a Hebrew and that she was commanded to let him drown.  She not only allowed Jochebed to nurse him, but she also paid Jochebed an income to do so.  Jochebed’s baby was not only saved, but she was able to care for him while he grew up.  What’s more, in hindsight we can see even more clearly how God was right in the middle of her story.  When her son grew up, He was called by God to rescue all of Israel out of Egypt – Jochebed was Moses’ mother.  God did not consign Israel to a life of suffering, but He had a plan and was working rescue for His people.  While she didn’t know it at the time, Jochebed’s story was a part of that plan.  Her suffering would ultimately alleviate the suffering of others.

God sees when we are in pain, and He cares to ease that suffering.  He also cares to ease the suffering of those who are hurting around us.  If you are going through a difficult time, know that God cares and that He longs to comfort you.  If you have been through a difficult time and wonder “Why did this happen to me?”, know that He longs to give purpose to your pain.  I’ve found that my own suffering has given me far more empathy and credibility so that I can love and comfort others better.  In this way, God often redeems our suffering by filling us with His desire to alleviate the suffering of others.

Furthermore, just as God rescued the Israelites from their suffering, He also is working to end our suffering.  In Revelation, He shows the plan of rescue that He has for us, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” When I read that it almost sounds too good to be true. I am a little afraid to put my trust and hope in it.  As if He can read my mind, in the very next verse He goes on to say, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He really is good! So it is that we too are like Jochebed:  Though we suffer, He relieves our suffering by comforting us.  Though we have pain, He redeems it to alleviate the suffering of others.  Though we live in a broken world, we can have hope that God is working to rescue us from suffering forever.  Moreover, in all of this, He does not leave us alone but is always with us.

In my next post, I’ll continue this series on God’s love in our suffering with another story from the New Testament. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the series!