Faith and Pain

"Faith and Pain" by David

All of us have gone through and will experience pain in this life. As yet another month of almost certain cold, clouds, and rain begins, this becomes especially clear. What, as Christians, are we to make of this? When mudslides in Brazil kill hundreds of people and leave children traumatized and alone, or when a loved one dies prematurely, do we begin to question whether the creator of the natural world is benevolent? When people are killed daily across the world by terrorism, gang violence, and war, do we begin to doubt that humanity is made in the image of a perfect God? All of us struggle with these questions at some point, but our faith gives us hope.

C.S. Lewis, the great Christian novelist and apologist, in his book The Problem of Pain, defines the “problem” this way: "If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were almighty He would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both." In the remainder of the book, Lewis uses the depth of Christian tradition to explain why this doesn’t need to be a paradox. Many other Christian authors throughout the centuries have spent a good deal of ink dealing with this issue as well. The doctrine of the fall has always been one clear explanation for the human condition and for our pain when it is caused by our fellow man. However, it is the subject of natural “evil,” like rocks falling on children and mudslides, that leaves many more confused. Lewis argues that this is not evil, but only the consequence of living in a world governed by laws. If there was no gravity, maybe rocks wouldn’t fall on children and mud wouldn’t slide into villages, but the world would cease to be a coherent environment for us.

These arguments can help us to maintain our faith in a good God in times of trial, but for most of us they will never make us fully comfortable with the conditions we see in our day-to-day lives. The Christian faith does provide one more great and astounding truth on this subject, though. God does not just sit on high with His arms crossed as we cry out to Him for help. His Incarnation into the human experience shows that He is willing not just to listen to our cries of pain but to feel the pain with us. God enters into solidarity with the pain of our human experience to the point of being tortured and dying a brutal death on the cross. He has lived our human pain and shown us hope and the way to eternal life. If the rational explanations of Lewis are not enough, then this can surely bring greater clarity to us in our darkest moments.