What do Martin Luther, Dr Paul Brandt and all of us have in common?
Have you ever been in pain, whether emotional or physical? If you live on planet Earth, chances are you have been—or will be—at some time. We don’t enjoy pain and would do anything to protect our loved ones from it, but it happens. Pain is a part of life.
People Hate Pain
We will try almost anything to avoid or minimize pain. In the USA we spend $16.4B/yr on painkillers. This doesn’t even take into account the $34B/yr spent by the many who are seeking relief with non-traditional alternatives such as acupuncture, homeopathy, or chiropractic therapy. Pilgrims in the 16th century would attempt to cure toothaches with a stolen sliver of wood from Luther’s deathbed; we haven’t changed much. We are also not too excited about emotional pain. We spend $10B/yr on anti-depressants and billions more on seeing therapists. Now some countries are even legalizing assisted suicide, so people can avoid the intolerable pain of dying or seeing a loved one suffer.
Why Doesn’t God Do Something?
Why doesn’t God do something about all this? Why would a loving God allow pain? These are questions that have plagued people ever since humans learned that God, indeed, loves us. I can’t give a definitive answer, but will content myself with adding to the discussion.
Could Pain Have a Purpose?
Many years ago, I read a book that helped form my thoughts on pain: Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants. Written by Dr. Paul Brandt, a physician who treated lepers, this book convincingly asserts that physical pain is necessary because it alerts us that something is amiss. Lepers, who cannot feel pain, do not know that, for example, that they are touching something hot or a blister is forming and, therefore, do not change their actions to prevent further insult. The damage we associate with leprosy is not caused by the disease, but by unnoticed physical injury. So, why pain? Why not a tickle, a light, or maybe a sound? Interestingly, Dr. Brandt’s experiments showed that any other alert, such as a bell ringing or perhaps a light flashing, was insufficient to cause lepers to avoid injury: only pain did that. He used an electric shock, and even that was ignored if it was expedient to do so. Thus, our need for escalating pain.
Emotional Pain
One could postulate the same with regard to emotional pain. It alerts us that something is wrong. Perhaps the sufferer is lonely or grieving; perhaps they are allowing boundaries to be infringed; perhaps they have learned unhelpful ways of processing experiences; perhaps they are living in persistent disobedience to Jesus; perhaps there is an illness. Whatever the reason, pain alerts the sufferer to the need to make a change or seek help.
Does Pain Always Have a Purpose?
But, what about the pain that cannot be remedied by, for example, moving away from the fire, taking a pill, or finding a therapist? One does not have to go far to find people in extreme pain where there is no answer this side of Heaven. It is tempting to throw out a Bible verse like Jer 29:11, where God appears to say the He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper and not to harm us, to give us a hope and a future. Sounds good but, actually, this verse is addressing the people of Israel, not us as individuals.
Well, how about Romans 8:28? “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” We are those who love God and are called by Him, so this verse does apply to us. Therefore, everything will work for good, right? That interpretation makes sense from the context. This interpretation also appears to be in keeping with the rest of Scripture, where we see that the cross and resurrection mean Jesus triumphed over evil. He is SO POWERFUL that He not only overcomes all the devil throws at Him, He even twists the bad around to increase good! That amount of power blows my mind.
Martin Luther
A couple years ago my husband and I visited Germany and learned much from Martin Luther. His life provides an illustration of this phenomenon. Luther had a very difficult childhood. His parents were intolerant and excessively demanding. We were informed that, when the boy Luther stole a nut, his mother beat him until the blood ran. When Luther announced he was going to become a monk, his father refused to speak to him for 17 years. It is highly likely that this harsh upbringing contributed to Luther’s emotional problems while in the monastery. No matter how hard Luther tried to remember all his sin in confession, no matter how much he beat himself as penance, no matter how he starved himself subdue his body, he never felt he had done enough to satisfy God.
His mentor, Johann von Staupitz, realized that, if Luther kept going as he was, he would kill himself with trying to please God. So, this wise man advised Luther to focus on Jesus instead of himself and later invited him to Wittenberg to teach the Bible. In preparing for classes, Luther discovered Phil 3:9, “…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” Salvation comes by the grace of God and is accessed by faith. No works required. No purchasing of indulgences needed. This was a turning point in Luther’s life and the repercussions of his 95 theses and work are still felt today. God took the evil of Luther’s upbringing and the pain it caused and used them for good.
So, after Luther accomplished much of what was required, was his life pain free? No. He suffered with gout, heart problems, Meniere’s disease, and depression. Was he perfect? No. Luther was rabidly anti-Semitic. These bring me to my final point. Yes, the Lord promises to work all things together for good, but He does not promise that the fulfillment will come to pass in this life. John the Baptist died while waiting for the good to appear. Abraham did receive descendants as numerous as the stars, but he did not see them while still on Earth. Neither of them was perfect and without sin and neither saw the fruits of their labors.
Returning to Luther, many of his portraits include a swan, in deference to someone he held in high esteem: John Huss (the last name means “goose”). Huss was a Bohemian who pointed out several unBiblical Catholic beliefs and practices. He was burned at the stake in 1415 for his efforts. But, as he died, he prophesied that, even though this goose would be cooked, a swan would follow. That was Luther. Hebrews 11:39-40 tells us that many faithful people did not receive what was promised to them. In Huss’ lifetime, this included him. But, it was not the end of his story, just like it is not the end of ours.
Dealing with Suffering
This is a clue for dealing with our suffering. Fix your eyes on what is to come, not what is here on Earth. Focus on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise…” Phil 4:8. Soak yourself in the Word; Luther said he fought the devil with ink when he translated the New Testament into German. Be assured that God will do exceedingly abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). Maybe He will do it here. Maybe He will do it there. (Likely it will be both.) Nonetheless, as the children’s chorus says, we know that “Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do.” We can rejoice in that knowledge, even in the midst of suffering in this sinful world. Because, in the end, we know who wins.