Through the Fog: 6 Days of God's Goodness Amidst Physical Suffering, Chronic Pain, and Chronic IllnessSýnishorn

HEALING TRUTH

Asking why, might not lead you to answers, but it can lead you to God.

DEVOTIONAL

Why? It’s the ever-present question in a human’s existence. We want to make sense of our physical suffering. Everything will be brought to light someday, whether in this lifetime or the next (Luke 8:17). But what are we to do in the meantime? It can feel like we’re stuck in a holding cell, awaiting the final verdict of our healing. And while we’re waiting, it’s only natural to start looking behind at how we got here.

Did I do something wrong?

Why me?

Why is God allowing this suffering right now?

Let’s address the first question. Did you do something wrong to deserve this trial? Firstly, this question is absolutely justified. It makes sense for us to seek an answer to why we are suffering. Yet what if this question misses the real point? Whether or not we deserve a trial doesn’t matter, because God’s justice system doesn’t work like ours does. The truth is, every single one of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But by God’s grace, our suffering or lack thereof is not determined by a black-and-white track record of our rights and wrongs.

Maybe you haven’t done anything wrong, and God is permitting this circumstance to refine your faith into the purest gold as He allowed with Job. Or maybe this trial has revealed some ugly parts of your heart or some habits that you’d like to change. If so, work with God, possibly a counselor, and an accountability partner to find freedom from these hurts and hangups. I know this might be hard to believe, especially if you’re near the beginning of your pain journey, but your physical suffering and the possible sin patterns it might have revealed in your life can actually be a demonstration of God’s mercy in your life, rather than His condemnation (Hebrews 12:6).

Now what about the second and third questions: Why you? Why now?

While I wish I could answer that for you, I can’t. But I would like to propose one possible explanation: maybe God permitted this suffering to occur because He knew you would be led here, to these words, and that you would have the chance of a lifetime to let Him make your pain worth it. He knew you would have the opportunity, right now, to let Him lead you on whatever journey of healing He has for you to redeem all of your pain, all of your tears, and all of your frustration. Maybe He knew that if you surrendered to Him, He could turn your story into a beautiful masterpiece that would glorify Him more than your life would have without this trial.

God doesn’t want to redo the horrible things that have happened in your life; He wants to redeem them. He is the Great Knitter, weaving and knitting our pain, sorrows, triumphs, and joys together into a beautiful blanket of comfort for our souls.

Don’t live in the wasteful lust of wanting something to be redone. Trust that God can redeem what has already been done. He can redeem that accident. He can redeem that diagnosis. He can redeem the hurt you’ve created in others’ lives in response to your pain. He can redeem the ways Christians have hurt you because of the lack of physical healing you’ve received. He can redeem it all, Friend.

We serve a God of the resurrection, who makes dead things come to life, who mends broken things for His glory, and who trades our ashes for a crown of beauty. No matter what has happened to land you here today, God doesn’t need to undo what’s been done to bring good out of it. He can redeem anything that we surrender to Him.

So regardless of why this has happened to you, God’s not finished. Grapple with Him and ask Him why He has permitted this suffering in your life. He’s not scared of your questions. He may or may not give you insight in the timing that you’d like, but you are always welcome to climb up on His lap and ask your Father the childlike question of why. And then, regardless of whether He explains His reason or if He just holds you close to his heart and rocks you in His arms, you’ll know the goodness of a God who longs to redeem everything this world has broken.

PRAYER

God, I know you know my heart. I know you’re big enough to handle my doubts, my questions, and my fears. Thank you for being a safe place where I can ask you the tough questions and seek answers. Thank you that I don’t have to be afraid or ashamed of asking you why. Today, I ask you to begin to reveal more of your will for me through this suffering, so that I can see your goodness playing out in the redemption of my circumstance. Please forgive me if I’ve blamed you for the pain you died to free me from. I ask you to write a more beautiful story in my life than I could have ever imagined for myself. I can’t wait to see what kind of healing journey you have for me, why you’ve permitted this trial in my life, and how many people will be brought to you because of it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.