imkwonjihye asked a question:
Hi pastor j.s! I think you may cover this in your new book, but still wanted to ask, does God aim to teach us something when we go through difficult circumstances or is it to bring us to him? Often times I feel like I have to justify my suffering and get something out of it, just so I don’t go crazy at the reason for it all. At the same time, constantly justifying suffering leaves me in a state of battle, instead of just being (?) I don’t know if I’m making sense. What does God want me to do…
Hello dear friend, this is very much covered in my newest book about persevering through pain, which you can find here.
The main crux of the book is that I don’t believe pain always has a lesson. In other words, I think it’s unfair to connect the dots to some epiphany on every instance of pain. When a preacher says, “God is using this for your good” or “God has an amazing plan for your life,” it can be very cruel and degrading to an actual suffering person. This only works in the quiet suburban stillness of a privileged gated community. It hardly works for cancer, a car accident, or a dilapidated third world village.
Certainly, pain can bring us towards God. It can be sublimated for strength and wisdom and deeper friendships. But I don’t know if God is using it for those things. Pain is part of a fractured, fallen world. God is not some cold teacher who waits for us to “get it.” I believe He grieves with us, and there’s no bigger evidence of this than the sending of His Son.
Though I feel very icky about plugging myself, I truly wrestled with the content of my book through many tears and many real stories of real hurting people, and I hope you’ll consider picking it up for a different view on suffering. It’s less than nine dollars right now. And here’s a video on the very same themes.
It’s okay to feel what you feel. I hope you’ll also keep serving, keep singing, keep crying, keep praying and saturating in Scripture and staying in community. Ask the hard questions. You don’t have to figure it all out. You can still walk by a tiny seed of faith. And you can move towards other sufferers, because they will need you. Much love to you, dear friend.
— J.S.
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 
He is teaching that we do not need such a creature..
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Good word! I think the best thing for us to do when someone is walking through that..is to not say anything and just be there. Cause none of us really know “why”. But we can be there and hold them through the process.
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Yes! I think both our presence and the few words we say all have their timing.
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I agree that it can be cruel to say that God has a reason for suffering, especially when one is in the midst of that suffering. However, eventually it’s sometimes helpful to try and make meaning out of life’s circumstances. I’m not saying you should ever try and do this for someone else, just that people tend to try to create some sense of what they went through.
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Totally agree. I think at some point, our presence must turn towards real conversation and comfort. 🙂
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