The Wind in the Trees

In my last post, we considered “the problem of pain” as it’s sometimes called. “How can there be so much suffering, evil and pain in a world created and ruled by a loving God?” We saw love must be freely given, that is, we must have free will to choose to love or not. And free will opens the door to evil and all its consequences.

But we must go deeper into this problem.

For one thing, we may wonder, “OK, given that there are negative consequences for turning away from God, why are they so excruciatingly painful in some cases? Why so absolutely terrifying in others? Why couldn’t our consequences for breaking the rules be more like Monopoly consequences, “Go directly to jail; do not pass Go; do not collect $200?”

When we are in the midst of extreme suffering and staring out at what seems like a silent universe, knowing that sin entered the world because of free will is of little or no help.

Questioning God’s goodness because of pain and suffering, perhaps the pain you are in right now, is normal. God has big shoulders. He can take it. During a period of extreme emotional “church stress,” my wife, Sue, went into a large downtown park in Hamilton at night and screamed at God for about an hour. She joked later that she is sure she scared off any would-be attackers!

Contrary to our common understanding, it’s OK to yell at God. Surprisingly, the Bible includes painful, heartfelt crying out against God! We see this in many psalms, for example, Psalm 44 where the Psalmist tells God, “you embarrassed us” by not going into battle with the Israelites (v9). Furthermore, he implies God betrayed his agreement with them while Israel kept up their end of the bargain (vss 17-18). I love the way the Message Bible sums up this thought, “Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day? Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us? Why do you bury your face in the pillow? Why pretend things are just fine with us?” (vss 23-24).

Some of the most daring examples of lament can be found in the Book of Job. After losing everything he has as well as experiencing extreme physical and emotional turmoil, Job lets loose at God. He makes the claim that when disasters such as plagues sweep through the land, it’s not just that God doesn’t do anything. God actually “laughs at the death of the innocent” (Job 9:23). God doesn’t pay any attention to the groans of dying people when they cry out for help (Job 24:12). And he asks if God actually gets pleasure from hurting Job while at the same time just smiling at the plans of evil people (Job 10:3).

The most surprising thing in the Book of Job, however, happens at the end when God shows up. How will God respond to this insolence? Will he crush Job for denying God’s goodness? Will he instantly vapourize him perhaps?

The bulk of the book is dialogue between Job and his three friends who tell Job the trials he suffers are because he has sinned. Job continuously denies this. When God speaks, however, everything seems to be turned upside down. God is angry, NOT with Job, but with his three friends (Job 42:7)! They had religious platitudes and a theoretical knowledge. Job had a relationship with God which he never abandoned.

His wife was super angry with God as well, but she apparently did forsake him as we learn when she encourages Job to “curse God and die.” Job doesn’t do that. He takes his heart full of pain back to the Lord again and again. And so God says to Job’s friends, “you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” Job’s words were clearly not right, but his life spoke something else. As one commentator says, “Much that he says in his anguish is false and exaggerated, and some of it is virtually blasphemous, but what matters is that he turns to God.”

Similarly, I have a good friend who experienced the turning point of his spiritual life through a heart felt lament. After years of emotional pain, the dam within him burst in the form of a most vulgar expletive, “God, what the _ _ _ _ are you doing?” That night he got spiritually untracked and is now a pastor loved by his congregation for his honest and vulnerable relationship with God.

The beauty of lament is that we can question God’s goodness in wrenching, heart-felt cries precisely because “he is good and his mercy endures forever.” He will listen. He will not condemn. “Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”