Where is God in

my pain?

Written by Ross Wakeley

How does

Easter help me with the issues in my life?

2

Pain, suffering and fear

It‟s a compelling image—a family heads for a chopper to be

flown out of their home, as it‟s engulfed by floods. A lifetime

of possessions and memories have been swept away—what

they carry is now all they own. Life may never be the same.

Fast facts on the Queensland flood crisis

DEATHS: A total of 30 people confirmed.

BRISBANE: 11,900 homes and 2500 businesses totally

flooded. 14,700 homes partly flooded. In a city of two

million, 67 suburbs affected. 4,500 in emergency centres.

IPSWICH: 2000 homes and 1000 businesses affected.

REGIONAL CENTRES: 86 towns and cities in Queensland

affected by flooding. 75% of state railway lines wrecked.

SERVICES: 100,000 homes without electricity. 92 schools

across Queensland had at least one building flooded.

COST: Over $20 billion.

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This is the main street of Toowoomba on the 10th January.

Over 100mm rain in 60 minutes produces an “inland tsunami”

and life went from normal to scary in a split second. Cars

were swept along roads where flood water rose 7 metres in

minutes. This truckie saw a woman in crisis—and moved his

truck to blockade the water from sweeping this woman away.

She was rescued as was the lady in this window. There were

other people who didn‟t make it. How do you process this?

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What do you tell the kids when everything has been taken by

a flood? How do you start again when the insurance company

refuses to pay you to get started again? Where do you turn?

Mark Kempton has

felt the raw pain of

this crisis. A chopper

pilot for 26 years, he

leads the Emergency

Management team

in Queensland.

He and his crew

rescued 28 people

in 2½ hours—they

saved people from

being swept away.

We’d say he’s a hero.

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Imagine you‟ve walked this

road of pain. How do you

handle this overwhelming

grief, suffering and loss?

However, Mark feels he is a real

failure. Why? He can't forget a

pregnant woman whose baby

was torn from her arms by flood-

waters moments before he saved

her. He winched her to safety in

the Lockyer Valley after floods

hit the area. Then Mark saw her

grief. "She told us her child had

been in her arms, but the water

was so powerful the child was

torn out of her arms. That was

just heartbreaking."

In tears, Mark added: "It was devastating to see and the most

difficult thing I think we've ever had to do. I've never been so

emotional in all my 26 years of flying for those people, for the

lives lost, and the fact that we couldn't save them all."

Some religious people fall

back on empty clichés like,

„Turn your scars into stars‟.

They leave us feeling alone,

judged and empty. It‟s a

pathetic and lazy response

that makes me feel ill.

Let‟s consider a more honest

approach to suffering.

Reflection: What’s caused you

pain in your life?

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This painting captures some of the response to the questions:

Where is God in my pain?

How does Easter help me with the issues in my life?

A beginning point to the answer is that God is with us in our

pain. In our suffering. We are not abandoned.

St George is

a Queensland

town that was

flooded more

than once.

A church put

up this sign

and backed it

up with action

that showed

people LOVE.

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God is with us—how do I know that‟s true?

Jesus had equal status with God but didn't think so much of

himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status

no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside

the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave,

became human! Having become human, he stayed human.

It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special

privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then

died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death

at that: a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:6-9, The Message)

If we look at the life of Jesus, we discover the brilliant

and true story of how God comes to find you and I:

In the middle of our sorrow and pain

Trapped by our disappointments

Feeling betrayed by the pain of life

God never leaves us where he finds us—unless we insist.

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Jesus may be with us, but does he understand my pain?

Do you remember the

scene in The Terminator

movie where someone

wants to dump their

pain on the cyborg

assassin—Arnold

Schwarzenegger. In a

memorable quote, he

says, “Talk to the hand”.

Jesus’ empathy when a friend dies

In John 11, we have this story—

Lazarus was sick. He was from

Bethany, the town of Mary and her

sister Martha. So the sisters sent

word to Jesus, "Master, the one

you love so very much is sick."

When Jesus got there, he found

Lazarus already four days dead.

As we read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, we discover

that Jesus did have amazing empathy with individual people

and their suffering. In addition, we find that Jesus invited

people to process their emotional issues with him. There is

never a time when Jesus says, “talk to the hand”. We find that

Jesus really heard people‟s shock, anger, fear, loss or trauma.

Mary came to where Jesus was and said, "Master, if only you

had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus

saw her sobbing...a deep anger welled up within him. He said,

"Where did you put him?" "Master, come and see," they said.

Now Jesus wept. They said, "Look how deeply he loved him."

(John 11:1-36, The Message)

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Earlier that day, when Jesus

arrived at Bethany, Martha had

heard from Jesus an incredible

statement of hope:

I am, right now, Resurrection

and Life. The one who believes in

me, even though he or she dies,

will live. And everyone who lives

believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe

this?" "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are

the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world”.

(John 11:25-27, The Message)

Jesus arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside

with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the

stone." They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to

heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have

listened to me. I know you always

do listen, but on account of this

crowd standing here I've spoken

so that they might believe that

you sent me." Then he shouted,

"Lazarus, come out!" And he came

out, wrapped from head to toe, and

with a cloth over his face. Jesus told

them, "Unwrap him and let him

loose." (John 11:1-44, The Message)

Knowing that God has real

empathy in the middle of

our suffering is good news.

It‟s also encouraging to be

given hope.

Does Jesus make a positive

difference to the issues of

life...or is it all just talk?

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He makes this promise to each person—

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake

you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper;

I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5),6

God is with us through our

relationship with Jesus

Lazarus, Mary, Martha and

Jesus‟ disciples proved from

their experience that God

can be trusted and that he

is with us. He invites us into

a relationship of security.

As people in pain, at times the

truth that God is with us may

not be what we are feeling.

When we are caught up in our

suffering or ________ (you fill

in the blank), we can loose

sight of feeling God‟s love. We

can feel so alone and hurting.

Does God know what

that feels like? He does.

During his crucifixion,

Jesus cried out in a

loud voice, “My God,

my God, why have

you forsaken me?”

(Matthew 27:46)

Jesus has been there.

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How we see God influences the way

you and I handle suffering and pain

Pain, suffering, injustice and abuse can

leave us feeling that it must be some-

one‟s fault. We know it‟s never our fault,

we‟ll just shift the blame—so we give

God one huge mouthful...

“It‟s all YOUR fault God!” There is a long line of people going back

thousands of years who‟ve blamed God.

Job’s story

Job is a man in the Old Testament

section of the Bible. We‟re told he was

a wealthy man—7,000 sheep, 3,000

camels and a huge staff of servants.

Job was „the most influential man in

his region.‟ Then it all went bad.

Disaster struck him unexpectedly. Bang! Bang! Bang came the

news. „All of your livestock have died or been stolen!‟ „Many of

your servants got killed by lightning strikes!‟ „Job, your home

collapsed and many of your

children have been killed!‟

Then Job got a skin disease,

leaving him painful sores

all over his body.

Job knew what it feels like

when tragedy like bushfire,

flood or a health crisis

strikes us. We feel shattered.

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At the heart of our pain is a belief that we can‟t trust God. We

start believing the lie: he isn‟t good and he is punishing us. In

walking down that path, we‟re conned into a false view of God..

In our pain, we can yell

at God, “It‟s YOUR fault!”

Job did: I feel worn down.

God, you have wasted me

totally—me and my family!

People take one look at me

and gasp. And God just

stands there and lets them

do it, lets wicked people do

what they want with me.

(Job 16:7-12, The Message)

In the middle of our over-

whelming pain, loss and

suffering, it‟s really easy to

believe our emotions alone.

Job recovered his balance

when God came to him.

Heard his pain. Job found

out that God‟s enemy—

Satan—was behind all the

tragedy Job experienced.

How can we get balance

when our world turns upside

down and pain engulfs our

emotions and thinking?

Reflection: Have you found

this in your life?

How did you cope?

Do we accept

the illusion

of what I feel

is the truth?

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Long before God laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus

of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.

Long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the

celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:4-6 (The Message)

Jesus said, “If

you hold to my

teaching, you

are really my

disciples. Then

you will know

the truth, and

the truth will

set you free.”

John 8:31,32

It all begins with

a love story.

God acting to share

with all mankind the

love, joy, hope and

freedom Father, Son

and Spirit experienced.

Father

Jesus Holy Spirit

We‟re adopted into the We‟re adopted into the

centre of God‟s love in centre of God‟s love in

a circle of relationshipa circle of relationship

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The Shack is

the best book I

know to help us

get answers on

suffering. It‟s an

honest, incredibly

helpful story. Ten

million copies!

It‟s common for us to blame God for our suffering and tell God to

fix the problem. In our pain, we can miss reality. What do I mean?

Imagine you‟ve been booked by the police for speeding. We go

through the cycle of emotions: shock, denial, anger, „it's not my

fault!‟ Mankind does the same thing: we blame God for our stuff.

Paul Young, author of The Shack, says:

“People often embrace fear, pain, power and

rights in our relationships. We center our lives

around things that leave us feeling empty.

We‟re addicted to power and the illusion of

security that power offers. When a disaster

happens, we‟ll turn against the false powers

we trusted. In our disappointment, we‟ll either

become softened toward God („Help God, I

need to be rescued‟), or we become bolder

in our independence („You‟ve let me down,

so go away God, I‟m better off on my own‟.)”

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Life quickly teaches us to

look at everything from our

perspective. When we do

that, we falsely see God as

the one who abandons us in

our struggles and someone

we can‟t trust.

We decide that if God causes

suffering, then he really can‟t

be good, so we walk away

from a relationship with him.

God doesn't send us an

email or form a taskforce.

He comes himself

into this world.

Maximum vulnerability—

God comes as a baby to

a down-to-earth couple.

God with us.

So WHAT has

God done to

fix things?

He could have

sat around

and just had

another beer

with his mates.

Instead, God

took action.

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“The Spirit of the Lord is on

me. He has anointed me to

preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim

freedom for the prisoners and

recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed, to

proclaim the year of the Lord’s

favour.” (Luke 4:18,19)

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God. He was with

God in the beginning. Through

him all things were made; with

out him nothing was made that

has been made.

Jesus was in the world, and though

the world was made through him,

the world did not recognize him…

To all who received him, to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God—The Word

became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen

his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the

Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)

In his actions and teaching,

Jesus showed people the

reality of God’s character.

He healed the sick

Fed the hungry

Spoke against injustice

Raised the dead

Loved the marginalized

Set people free

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Jesus Christ had a clear purpose:

"I came that you may have

life, and have it abundantly."

John 10:10

Jesus declared that he came to

"give his life to rescue many

people." Mark 10:45.

In John‟s account, Jesus says

he came so that, "those who

believed in him would have

eternal life." John 3:16

A photographer caught the moment as Hannah was swept

away and it was feared mum and daughter had drowned.

Rescuing people from suffering, pain and death sounds great,

BUT it is costly. Every time we have a disaster, and a man or

woman puts their life „on the line‟ to rescue someone, it costs!

Aussies witnessed the rescue

efforts of many during the

January floods. One dramatic

story has its focus on Hannah

and her mum Kathryn, who

were trapped in their car by

Toowoomba‟s flash flood.

Their car was pushed into a

power pole by the eight metre

raging torrent. The shocked

women climbed onto their car

roof, but were washed away.

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Now the good news...

Steven Seefeld and Jason Iacono

arrived on site, minutes before

the flood. "We were watching

when Hannah came past us."

With outstretched arms, Steven

and Jason managed to grab

Hannah‟s hands and haul her to

safety. "Once we got her over, she

managed to splutter out that her mum was still out there.

"We just managed to see her mother being

washed down the street. She was right out

in the middle of it." Both men waded out into

the water to reach Kathryn, who‟d grabbed

a power pole. "We brought her in," Steven

said (photo). "A couple more seconds and

she wouldn't have had the energy to hang

on, and she would have been gone. Mother

and daughter were so glad to be together!”

Reflection: How does that story impact you?

Have you been rescued? Have you rescued some

one else. How did you cope emotionally?

Rescue efforts

come in many

ways. A slice of

chocolate cake to

weary workers in

the floods goes

down pretty well!

Let’s look at the

ultimate rescue.

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Jesus—God in human form—

knew that man had taken a

relationship with God and

turned it into religion.

That is never God‟s idea—he

hates religion. It is a pathetic

substitute of rules to give

the illusion of salvation.

In reality, it is a relationship

with Jesus that brings us

real life, hope, freedom and

salvation. And God will go

down any road to help us

meet Jesus and get rescued.

Jesus came to rescue us Jesus came to rescue us

How can a man lying on a Cross rescue me? And how is the

death of Jesus Christ relevant to my suffering and life today?

However, the price of our rescue was beyond awesome.

In his public life, Jesus made it clear to his followers what

was about to happen to him. Everything written in the

Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. He will be

handed over to the Romans...they will kill him. In three

days he will rise, alive." (Luke 18:31-34, The Message)

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Everything Jesus said

would happen occurred.

His betrayal, arrest,

trial, harsh flogging

and crucifixion.

The images of Jesus‟

death—although so

shocking—can

become familiar.

We may miss

the full reality of all

he did on that Cross

for you and I.

It was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the

things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on him

self, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But

it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore

and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and

that made us whole. (Isaiah 53:4-6, The Message)

On that Cross, it was God suffering for you and I.

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The Ultimate Rescue

It‟s staggering, but true. God became a man and took on him

self all the judgment, sin, suffering and death that belonged

to mankind. He choose to pay the total price of justice. We

deserved death, however God‟s nature is goodness and love.

He went beyond the justice we deserve to suffer for us and

rescue us from our fears, emptiness, religion and pain.

Reflection: How does the death of Jesus impact you?

What response do you have to the fact that

God chose to suffer for us on the Cross?

As the first light of the new week dawned,

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came

to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the

earth rocked under their feet as God's

angel came down from heaven, came

right up to where they were standing. He

rolled back the stone and then sat on it.

This story has a

happy ending...

for Jesus and

you and I

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On the Cross, Jesus Christ took on

himself the punishment for all our

rebellion against God and selfishness

towards other people—past, present,

and future. For every person. It was

all dumped on Jesus, and he was the

perfect rescuer. He also took on himself

all our suffering, pain and injustice.

Jesus suffers for us

Jesus suffers with us

The angel spoke to the women: "There is

nothing to fear here. I know you're looking

for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross.

He is not here. He was raised, just as he

said. Come and look at the place where he

was placed. Now, get on your way quickly and

tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead.”

The women, full of joy, lost no time in leaving

the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then

Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Good morning!" he said. They fell to their

knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him.

(Matthew 28:1-9, The Message)

Three days after Jesus‟ terrible

crucifixion, the Easter miracle

happened. Christ conquered

rebellion and death. He rose

physically from the dead as it

had no power over Him. God

proved in his actions his

amazing love for every person.

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It was a defining speech. Choose to

make a transition from being a victim,

to being an overcomer. Make the choice

to act together, and we‟ll make it.

Easter is God acting so that you and

I can make a positive choice.

We know that in all things God works for the

good of those who love him, who have been

called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The reality that God is able to work incredible

good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn‟t

mean he caused the tragedy. If our perception

is that God was the cause of the suffering,

we‟ll start thinking God isn‟t good and can‟t be

trusted. Human history has multiple examples

of where God works to bring life out of death;

to bring freedom out of our brokenness and

pain and turn darkness into new life.

Invite Jesus to step into your life with love.

"We are the people they breed tough north of the border.

We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again.

Together we can pull through this.''

At the worst point in the

flood crisis, Anna Bligh

said thousands of people

in SE Queensland faced

"unbelievable agony."

The Premier fought

back tears as she talked

from her heart: "I want

us to remember who

we are," she said.

Scripture quotations are taken from

The Holy Bible, New International Version ®

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993-2002.

Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

Acknowledgements: Photo‟s—Passion movie, internet, author

Booklet © 2011, Ross Wakeley

Life can be incredibly painful

We all have choices to make—we

can choose to stay in our place of

suffering, or open our life to some

light. To real hope and breakthrough.

Interested?

This booklet is one starting point to

help with the issues we all face from

pain and suffering. Welcome to the

adventure of discovering hope.