August 26, 2017 – Devotions – Your G-d Is Too Small
What Are We to Make of Pain and Disease?

First let me say that Jesus did not heal everyone he encountered with pain, diseases and disabilities. He could not possibly have healed them all, for there wasn’t enough time in the day. As such we can make the statement that Jesus also accepted these things as part of the stuff of life. He did not pretend that they do not exist, and he did not proclaim that he had come to eradicate all diseases. He dealt with them by restoring those he could, saving those he could, giving emotional stability and health to those he could. And, he did not promise those who followed him that they would be immune to such challenges – neither them, nor himself. But he did promise his presence and the “peace that surpasses all understanding” through the Holy Spirit would empower them to do more than just survive – because most of his disciples would be martyred for their continued following of Jesus. But in the process of living and following the teachings of Jesus, they would be on the course of defeating evil – as much as they could.

But that still leaves us wondering why suffering, pain and disease exists in this world – when G-d is the creator of all and is omnipotent as well as omniscient. Well, we can talk about some pertinent issues around suffering:
1. Often we suffer for the sin of self-love and indulgence. Every action we take has its consequences as well as results. And when you multiply these selfish decisions and actions by millions of people, we see how it is possible that it is reasonable to assume that together humanity is slowly destroying the world – or at least reduce the presence of the work of the Spirit in the created order.
2. Jesus fought the “devil” in the wilderness – whether it was a physical devil or the demons that attack all of us. Whether we call this evil “Satan” or the “Devil”, there exists a spiritual power that is more than just the absence of good. We can agree, I hope, that Jesus spoke, acted and ministered with the assumption that evil was operating in the world.

Ultimately, there are things that happen and/or exist in this world that will defy any explanation. Why one person is cured of cancer while another is taken before they turn one year old – or why someone is killed by a stray bullet or a steel beam falls on their head is simply an agonizingly real experience we all can and will face in this life. But being human, we want explanations and reasons these things happen. The best explanation I can give is that G-d allows free will in this world – and most of these things that happen go against G-d’s will. But G-d’s will and humanity’s free will sometimes counter each other.

Jesus recognized that evil is more than just the absence of good. And Jesus did counter evil, in face he destroyed evil, whenever he could. But the full understanding of evil, its existence, and the ultimate redemption of all things is not something we will entirely understand in this space-time continuum. We just trust that the beginning of the Kingdom of G-d has been inaugurated in Jesus, and that G-d will bring all things into G-d’s self at G-d’s appointed time. (Themes come from the book “Your God Is Too Small” by J. B. Phillips)

Pastor Dave