THE PROBLEM OF PAIN

Romans 5:3-5
January 1, 1995
Bob Bonner

The following is a true account. The specifics have been recorded for us by Charles Swindoll.

“The weather was bright and cheerful. The rays of a New Guinea sun burned down on a village normally occupied by the Tifalmin natives, but they were out in the field working on their farms and gathering firewood. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. No one dreamed disaster was about to strike. Walt and Vonnie Steinkraus, a dedicated missionary couple with Wycliffe Bible Translators, were at home resting alongside their daughters Kerry and Kathy.

At precisely 3:00 p.m., a freak of nature occurred. A huge section of the three-hundred-foot mountain on the opposite side of the river from the Steinkraus’ house suddenly broke loose. With a deafening roar and incredible force a half-mile-wide, one-hundred foot deep section plunged downward…scooping out sandbanks and crossing the river with lightning-like speed. It drove through the opposite bank and covered the village with rock, mud, and debris, ten feet deep. The missionary family was buried in the landslide. Death was instantaneous. It’s possible they never even heard a sound. Two eyewitnesses ran three miles to a mining camp and reported the scene.”

A Western Union telegram broke the horrible news to the folks back home. It stung like a shark attack. Charles Swindoll continues his account of the tragedy with these words: “A numbing disbelief gripped relatives and friends across American. The missionary community was stunned, even though many were seasoned veterans, tempered for years in the fires of hardship and affliction. How wrong it seemed…how unfair! Why? With a world full of reprobates and rebels, why a missionary family? With a thousand other vacant hillsides many miles from one living soul, why that mountain…at that time?”

This couple had been working on translating the Bible into the primitive Tifalmin tongue, but were taken before it was complete. Swindoll continues to express what many of us feel at times like this. He says, “Forgive the way this sounds, but God’s heavenly plan doesn’t always make earthly sense. Candidly, His logic seems a little weird at times.” [Swindoll, p. 19-20 from an insight for living brochure and it is also in SEASONS?]

Events happen in our lives that leave us staggering, sometimes for years---painful events that defy explanation but we are told to accept. Maybe you have been dealt a hand lately that calls you to face a very painful occurrence in your life. Pain is a reality that we all are caused to face. But pain and despair is not the same thing. We do not have to suffer from despair. Despair refers to suffering that has no meaning or possible purpose. While, pain, although it can defy explanation can still have a purpose through which we see hope behind it. 

When we understand the purpose and the person behind pain, eases the problem of pain. That’s what our passage of scripture in Romans 5 focuses on today. Three times in this chapter, Paul repeats the word “rejoice” or “exult”. Last week we saw that the first level of joy comes when we as believers, realize that we are at peace with God, and that He is committed to our development in becoming like Jesus Christ.

But the second time Paul mentions rejoice in this chapter, in verse 3, he refers to rejoicing in our difficulties in the present. He states, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations,…”

When peace with God becomes a reality, it does not necessarily bring peace between us and the world. We still face the potential pressures and disagreements with others that come from living in a hostile society, as well as face the natural disasters that touch everybody such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, etc… Verse 3, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;” 

It is clear from this passage and others, that Christians are expected to experience pain. For instance: Paul tells us in Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake,…” 

The apostle Peter repeats this truth. He says, in 1 Peter 2:18-21, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this {finds} favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer {for it} you patiently endure it, this {finds} favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,…” 

Later, in 4:12, Peter continues and says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”. In other words, Peter is warning us that tough times will come, and when they do, don’t sit there and bury yourself in self-examination trying to figure out all the things that you did that were wrong. Maybe you didn’t do anything wrong. Bad things simply happen to good people. Don’t ask me to explain it. I can’t.

The apostle James also speaks to the reality of trouble in the believer’s life. He says, James 1:2, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have {its} perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Finally, Jesus, not wanting us to be surprised by difficulties coming into our lives and not wanting us to believe the lie that bad things never happen to good people, says in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are you when {men} cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” 

So suffering and pain is not something that when it happens to us, we should be surprised by it. It is a part of life in this hostile world.

The term “tribulation” in verse 3, is a word that refers to every kind of problem from a minor irritation to a minor disaster. It is everything that causes distress in one’s life, whether it be people or circumstances.

Paul’s words here express hard-headed honesty about the real world. In this life we will have troubles. Things break down, relationships fail, people disappoint us, and we do things we are ashamed of. At times, we seem gripped by problems that we can’t get out of. We have illnesses, loss of jobs, angry relationships, everything you can think of in the way of suffering. Yet the apostle says we “rejoice” in our sufferings. And as we will see, the sovereign God puts our troubles to good purpose. It is not random or without its reasons, although it is sometimes hard to understand and God is not obligated to explain His reasons to us.

Basically, there are two categories under which all of our pain and troubles all. The first are those circumstances that are under our control. But due to poor or wrong decisions, or foolish choices, or sin, we find ourselves engulfed n difficulties. These troubles come as consequences of our wrong choices.

But not all our problems are a result of our wrong choices; which leads us to the second category under which much of our troubles fall. And the second category is those circumstances over which we have no control. Such as: persecution for our faith, natural disasters, plagues, drive by shootings, genetic defects, etc. 

So, these things happen to us as believers. When they do, how are we to respond? Paul says that we are to “rejoice”. But what does that mean? First, let’s see what it does not mean and then what true rejoicing in the Lord involves.

For one, it does not mean that we are to become Stoics and put on the grin-and-bear-it attitude. Or, to tough it out, or keeping a stiff upper lip. Many Christians believe that this is what Paul means. But non-Christians can do this. And many of them can put us to shame by what they can bear without complaining. The kind of rejoicing that Paul has in mind here is a supernaturally empowered ability to rejoice. So…I don’t see that the “grin-and-bear-it” attitude as being the thing Paul has in mind here.

Furthermore, I don’t see Paul’s intention here to be that we are supposed to enjoy pain. That would be masochistic. There are a lot of people who believe that we are to look forward to painful circumstances. If they are not miserable or made to feel miserable, they are unhappy. Some even come to church and if they don’t leave the worship service feeling like a worm, they don’t believe they have worshipped or have heard the word preached.

Neither does Paul mean, when he says that we are to rejoice in our sufferings that we are to pretend that we are happy. That would be advocating that we be phonies. And Christianity is never phony. We are not to be artificial and put on plastic smiles. We can be honest, and when someone else asks how we are doing we can say, “I am hurting over this situation. I don’t like it and wish it never happened”.

So, if these three things do not represent what biblical rejoicing is all about, then what does Paul have in mind here when he says that maturity is revealed when a person can rejoice in difficulty? Well, it certainly is referring to a sense of genuine rejoicing. Not so much an action of laughter, but rather a sense of peace in the midst of the storm, that all is going to be okay, even though it presently may not be as you would have chose it to be. It is a rejoicing in the fact that no matter what the difficulty is, in perspective it is not the end of the world and God is still in control.

Furthermore, when we face the painful pressures of life, we may not be able to jump up and down and praise God right at the moment of a trial. Hence, let’s be realistic. Our ability to rejoice may not take place immediately. Hebrews 12:11, helps us there, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

You may at the moment not feel like rejoicing about the trial, but you can. But how do we get to the place where we can rejoice in our sufferings? Paul gives us a little hint here in verse 3. He says that this genuine rejoicing comes from something we can “know”. It’s almost like insider information for Christians only. And that inside information comes from God’s word. The basis of our genuine rejoicing comes from the word. True rejoicing comes from the perspective one gets from the word, concerning one’s trial and our God who is right there with us in this trial. As one gets perspective from the Word, we soon find ourselves rejoicing. And by rejoicing, I don’t necessarily mean jumping up and down with glee. But rather, having a peaceful deep seated sense of joy that can come in the midst of pain, that sense that everything is going to be okay in the end, because God hasn’t fallen off His throne. He is still in control and loves me, regardless of this painful circumstance. Even though the trial or the results of the disaster may still be with us, we know that we are not left alone in it. Life, when we get our focus straightened out by God’s word, still has tremendous meaning, regardless of our loss.

Furthermore, this sense of genuine rejoicing, comes from knowing not just the Word, and gaining some perspective from life, but specifically knowing that suffering produces something good. In the end, it is productive. That productivity that comes as a result of difficulties in our lives, is the subject of the next two verses in Romans 5. These verses will show us specifically that sorrow or pain we suffer is never without purpose and it always will produce something good in the end.

For the Christian who truly understands all that went behind Gods loving efforts to rescue us from the control of sin in our lives and to make us righteous in Christ, that Christian knows that this trial is going to produce something worthwhile. We know that our God is sovereign, loving and in control and would not allow anything to happen to us, to those whom He did so much for to save in the first place. We may die as a result of the ordeal, but so what? And someday, and for many of us, right here on earth, we will look back and say, “Although it may hurt, knowing what I now know, I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity for that painful event and for what it produced in my life, for anything this world has to offer”.

Well, let’s look closely at what the more mature believer understands, even in the midst of a painful happening in one’s life. Paul will show us four products that suffering produces in the believer’s life.

The first he mentions at the end of verse 3, perseverance. This is the ability to persevere. The word there for “perseverance” literally means, “to abide under pressure or to stay under pressure”. Perseverance is the opposite of panicking, or bailing out. Maybe a better word is “steadiness”. Suffering produces steadiness.

Pressure is something we all naturally try to crawl out from under or to run from. Pressures of life cause us to become volatile, resentful and manipulative of others. We get backed into a corner and do or say things to others. Often times when I face an uninvited problem in my life, my first reaction is to cry out, “God, get me out of here!”, but that is not a correct response. A more correct response that comes with maturity is to pray for God’s enablement as one chooses to remain under the pressure. It’s learning to draw upon the supernatural graces or power of God that are in us, because Christ literally lives in the believer. It is the surpassing greatness of this power of God that it in us, that gets us through tough times. For it is only in these testing times that we become steadier or more able to persevere. It is during these times that we ask Jesus to live His life out through us, as we by faith choose to abide in Him. And then He does the rest.

Rather than running from your troubles, stay under the pressure. Face the music. Steadiness with the Lord, is built over a period of time. We sort of develop a track record of being in tight spots only to see the Lord deliver. He always proves Himself to be faithful. And as we learn to trust Him in difficult times, we become steadier.

Furthermore during these stressful times, we learn more about ourselves, like we aren’t all that adequate to meet all our needs. We aren’t as strong, smart or in control or our circumstances as we thought.

But even knowing these things, or just hearing me talk about them, I know does not hold back the nagging questions that the wicked one attacks our minds with. Questions such as, “Why should I keep on persevering? Man, I’m tired of this. Why continue standing against the strong currents of temptation, fear, anger, loss, stress, impossibilities, misunderstanding with others, and false ideas or philosophies of the world that disagree with scripture?  Why fight the temptation to defect from the faith? Why?”

Paul tells us why in the next verse. He says that over time persevering in trials produces something else in our lives that is very good. He says, “and perseverance produces proven character.” 

What is “proven character”? The Greek word for “character” carries with it the idea of being put to a test, like test driving a car. And when it passes the test, it gets a stamp of approval. It’s the idea of being shown to others or being seen by others as one who is reliable, trustworthy, dependable, believable.

When people get in trouble they naturally look to those around them who are more mature, who are believable, for help. Often times, they will turn to us, in the midst of the storm and to be steadied, because they see we have proven to be steady amidst the storms of life.

What an opportunity we have at those moments to be a witness for Jesus Christ. To point to Jesus, rather than to preach how great we ourselves are. What an opportunity to fulfill our calling to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and to be an encouragement to others. To preach Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as His bond servants. What a teachable moment to point people to the truth of who one can be in Jesus Christ. It’s not our dependability or steadiness they see, but Jesus living His life out through us. And they need to know that it is not us, but Him. That’s only being spiritually honest. That’s showing spiritual integrity.

Although I was not involved in the Viet Nam conflict, and can’t even imagine the horror that took place during that war, I can tell you, there is one thing I would have done as a rookie soldier called over there to fight. The first thing I would have looked for when I arrived would have been a person who was a reliable veteran. They were easy to spot. They were the ones who were alive and had been there for more than two years. I would know that times were going to get tough and I would want to see how they stayed alive.

It is one thing for the instructor in boot camp, thousands of miles away from the fighting to tell you how to survive- -like the theologian stuffed off in the back room somewhere translating documents, telling you what the Bible says about how you should live- - -but it is quite another to be out there in the trenches of life where the real wars are fought and lessons are learned.

The third product produced by pressure in the believer’s life has to do with hope. Paul says, in verse 4, “…and proven character, hope.” Pain in life developed endurance or steadiness amidst difficult times.  And through endurance over time, we prove our veteran like character in the faith. And this faith, as it continues to grow, produces hope. And that takes us back to where all this began in verse 2, “hope”. We have come full circle back to hope again.

However in verse 2, it was a hope for our future and sharing the glory of God beyond death. But here, this “hope” refers to the sharing in some of the likeness of God, becoming more like Christ, right now, in this present life. This hope is not just a possibility, it is a certainty. God right now is forming you more into the Christ-like person He wants you to be. We don’t have to wait for the future to see our lives transformed. It happens now, as we walk with and depend upon the Lord living His life out through us right here.

This brings us to the fourth product of pain. Paul says in verse 5 that “hope does not disappoint” or let you down or be ashamed of the One in Whom you have put your trust. In other words, hope makes us confident and more bold that what God says is true and that He will deliver on all of His promises.

Buy why does hope do this? Paul goes on to tell, “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our heart [our inner man, our new nature is realizing how much God loves us. And how is He teaching us this?] through the Holy Spirit who was given to us?.” 

Once again, it is important to note that God’s love, meaning the reality that He loves the believer, has been “poured out”, literally a continuing understanding of how much God loves us, takes place as we understand more, the lengths to which God went to make us right with Him, and His commitment to transforming our lives and helping us to grow up. The understanding of God’s love for us grows as we understand all the supernatural provisions and enablement He has given to us so that we might live life more fully, even in the midst of tragedy. We are not victims, but victors in Christ.

The most fruitful times for this understanding and coming to grips with God’s love for us, takes place during times of pressure and pain, when we are forced to depend upon Him, because we have come to the end of our own resources.

However in times of heartache, not everyone experiences this growth and sense of God’s increasing love toward us. Many feel abandoned. You and I know Christians who are suffering, but they are not being strengthened or becoming more steady in the midst of it. They are not growing in their love for the Lord. Instead, due to pain, they are becoming bitter, angry and resentful to the point that some are denying their faith. They are allowing their pain to drive them away from God not to Him. In other words, suffering does not produce these qualities of perseverance, proven character, hope and boldness in every Christian’s life. Why? What makes the difference between becoming a defeated Christian under pressure and a victorious Christian under pressure?

Those who live defeated lives in the midst of tragedy or the pressures of life, are those who are questioning the love of God. If you believe that your troubles are the result of God venting His spleen on you, then you are on the road to discouragement. But if you realize and believe that a loving God is at the source of your pain and heartache, and that He has a good purpose for it happening in your life, you will turn to Him and be better able to face your difficulty. That’s exactly why Paul writes these verses. As we will see more closely next week, the following verses 6-10, which are used so often in evangelism, especially the statement that says, “While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, He died for you”, the context of these words is to help us understand that the same God who loved you so much that He went to the cross to die for you that He might justify you, this very same loving God has purposefully allowed tragedy to cross our paths to produce maturity in our lives. Pain is not a punishment from God. Pain is not an option for anybody in life. Instead, God has chosen to use the pains of life to teach us to depend upon Him and to learn that He is trustworthy. And that in turn makes us more hopeful, confident and bold about tomorrow, even if we are struggling today.

Andrew Murray once wrote these words of encouragement. I have found them so helpful during the pressures of life, that I have them on my desk, so that when the pressures start getting me down, I will be reminded of these truths. There are basically four truths that Murray reminds us of:

1. He brought me here – therefore it is by His will that I am in this difficult place. In that fact, I will rest. I am not here by accident. I am not lost from God’s sight. He has brought me to this time and place in my life for a reason and I will trust Him with that.
2. He will keep me here in His love, and will give me grace in this trial to behave as His child – Secondly He will keep me here in His love and will give me the grace in this trial to behave as His child.
3. He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn.
4. In His good time, He will bring me out again.

How and when, only He knows. So, I’m here:

 By His appointment.

 In His keeping.

 Under His training.

 For His time.

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