Like Pumpkin Pie w/out Sugar

I don’t mean to pick on the well-known pastor/devotional writer I critiqued in my last post; but, he has done it again.   While what he says (in his devotional entry) is true, it’s incomplete and comes across as simplistic.  It’s like the pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving.  It was beautiful as it came out of the oven.  It had that orange-brown hue of pumpkin pie.  The crust was golden.  But, it was not my mom’s pumpkin pie.  It was not sweet.  In fact, it was bitter.  Ahhh!  I had left out the sugar! 
  

Well, the writer of the devotional left out a sweet ingredient from God's receipt for joy in the midst of suffering.  He began his entry, “You may think, ‘Nobody knows what I'm going through, nobody feels the pain I'm experiencing.’  But God knows!”  Does it comfort you to know that God knows even if others don't?  Somewhat, I suppose.  But, it also begs the question:  Why does He allow the pain to persist?

The writer continues in a similar vein, “Often when we're hurting, we feel very isolated and lonely. Maybe there's been a death in the family, a divorce, maybe we've gotten fired, and we start to think, ‘Nobody understands the way I feel; nobody can tell the way I feel; nobody feels the pain.’  God not only sees, He cares!"  He then quotes from Psalms 103:13, "The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him." (NLT)

The same question springs to mind, however:  If God cares so much, why does He allow the pain?  If it were within my power to do so, I would end the suffering of my own children, were they in pain.  So, if the "Lord is like a father to his children," why do I have to endure prolonged circumstances of sorrow?  So, God knows and God cares...; but, why doesn't He do something about my suffering?

To that question Romans 8:28 is often (quite appropriately) offered.  “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.”  But, we have so little understanding of the “good” that will come of pain, there is little else we have to say. “Maybe God will, oh... I don't know, perhaps He’ll bring someone to Jesus through your pain.  I don't know what it is, but good will come of it." 

Our understanding of the “good” Paul refers to in his letter to the Romans is pretty fuzzy, isn't it?  And, if that were all the Bible had to say on the matter, it would do.  But the Bible does say more, much more, about the “good” that God will bring from our pain and suffering.  We simply aren't aware of the Bible's promises.  We have left the sugar out of the pie!

That “good” to come was hinted at in one of the verses the pastor/writer quotes.  “You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears.” (Ps. 56:6)  So, God isn't just aware of our circumstances, He is "keeping a record" of them?  Why would God do that?  (Answer carefully, for without a good answer, God might appear sadistic, as if He enjoys watching people suffer.)  So, why does He record our pain and sorrow?  What is He going to do with that record?

God records every instance of your sorrow because the reward you will receive for your faith and faithfulness will be based, in part, upon the suffering you endured.  Nothing you do and endure in this life goes either unnoticed or unrewarded by God.  Listen to the Prophet Jeremiah, “This is what the LORD says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD.  (Jer. 31:16)  You needn't weep and cry because your work will be rewarded.  Indeed, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5), you can rejoice and even leap for joy in your pain, because great is your reward in heaven.

So, take heart, my friends; for God has great things in store for you.  His promises are sweet.  Every act of faith and faithfulness in the midst of pain will be rewarded – for all of eternity.