Is God Really Good in our Pain?
BROOKE DAVIS // INTERN DIRECTOR AND YOUTH MINISTRY ASSOCIATE
There are moments in life when everything slows down to a screeching halt, when what you once were sure of, you no longer are. These moments can come with no warning and hit so hard that it feels like you can barely stand up to take another step. Hearing the word “cancer” out of the mouth of your surgeon is one of those moments. It is life changing and extremely disorienting. On December 19th, I was diagnosed with thyroid Cancer. This was a bit of a gut punch at the age of 23. Just like any other young 20-something, health and excitement for the future were on my mind, not CANCER?! It was devastating.
Maybe you have found yourself in a similar moment. The details of my specific story aren’t the point. You see, to differing degrees and in various ways we will all experience pain in our lives. Don’t just take my word but see this in the Bible
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” - 1 Peter 4:12
It will happen: suffering will enter the front door of every human life. The weight of the curse will fall on all of our shoulders in some way. Each story will look different, ranging from death to disappointment, sickness, and various other curveballs we would have never written into our stories if we had the pen.
So if we know it is coming, do we just sit in fear? Do we despise it when it comes knocking? Do we wrap ourselves in a bubble and never come out? Oh no, child of God, your father holds the universe. You have no reason to fear, and thankfully you have very little control over tomorrow. But your fickle heart will wrestle with God’s control and His goodness when what you never asked for becomes your current reality.
There was a five day period in this entire journey that for the life of me I could not see the goodness of God. I have known and loved Jesus deeply since middle school, but when the word “cancer” was said, I was mad. I was reaching for every verse I have ever known, and I couldn’t believe any of them. I did not want this story. What was happening? I was doubting the goodness of my God. I was doubting whether Him being in control was actually a good thing.
You see, the real attack when you suffer is not the actual suffering. The real attack is the one on the heart of the sufferer. The way you suffer will affect you more than the thing causing your suffering. A heart that began to doubt if God was good was way more dangerous to me than the cancer in my body, and I believe that with everything in me. Let me explain.
Great temptation always arrives in our pain. The temptation to let doubt, discouragement, fear, and envy become the masters of our hearts. Life isn’t the way we want it to be, so we suddenly feel temptation to lose hope. In God’s patience, He gives us space and time to wrestle with both our reality and His goodness when tragedy strikes. He listens to the cries of His people. Just look at the beloved Psalmist, David, to see this:
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.”
Psalms 13:1-4
The problem is not coming to God overwhelmed and with our doubts. The problem is when those doubts become our ruler instead of Jesus. When the way we suffer as the people of God seems like we have no hope, we have lost sight of Christ on the cross and we have begun to lose the battle of our heart in the midst of pain.
When I have been tempted to despair, I go to the goodness of God’s guide, His Word. See what he says to the sufferer!
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” - James 1:2-4
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” - Romans 5: 3-5
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” - Romans 8:18
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 1:6-7
Do you SEE these promises for the sufferer?!? It almost makes you want to sign up for hardship (almost). We are “gospel amnesiacs” as Paul David Tripp says. We are “faithful forgetters” of the truth, especially when life is hard. We can easily forget the truth above in a crisis. God is offering us grace to walk through the bumpy road of the already (curse) and the not yet (glory). Psalm 90 reminds us that there is great wisdom in numbering our days. We are but a vapor on earth, and we have every reason to trust Christ in both tragedy and triumph.
I want to end with this story. I was 24 hours out of my first surgery. There was a 10% chance that what had been removed from my body was cancer. The odds were low and the hopes were high. My phone rang, and, knowing it was my surgeon, I picked it up, fully believing he was going to tell me everything looked great. The call went like this, “Hello, is this Brooke Davis?” I replied, “Yes, it is.” His tone changed, and his next words came like a gut punch. “Brooke, this is Dr. Browning, and I am sorry to inform you that you have follicular thyroid cancer. I have an OR booked for Monday because we need to try and get the rest of this out ASAP.” I don’t remember much about the next few hours, but as my family took the phone because I was unable to speak, I heard Dr. Browning interrupt all their questions and say, “I can hear her upset in the background. Please tell her I am so very sorry.”
Over the next few weeks, it dawned on me that that moment reflected what God was doing to my heart in all this. You see, I did not want another surgery. I had not even begun to recover from the first one. I did not want radiation and the fears that cancer brings. It was all going to hurt me, but the surgeon was telling me though the pain was intense and overwhelming, it was temporary and in the long run would save my life. That is the way God operates on our hearts. He won’t let up until every single inch of what would kill us is out. He might allow pain and hurt in ways we can’t imagine, but He is a careful surgeon who removes every last bit of our wickedness, refusing to let evil, self-righteousness, pride, lust, lies, and other things destroy our lives
On top of all that, just like my surgeon and FAR greater, God shows immense care for us in our pain. He interrupts all the chatter and chaos to say, “I am here. It is I who keeps you. I am with you, and I will never forsake you. I will give you all you need because I have already given you Jesus.”
So we can trust the surgeon of our hearts. God really is good in our pain. No matter how many times we have to be cut, how much healing we have to walk through, and how many scars we have on the other side, we can ALWAYS know He is working so that we can be whole and healed in Him alone. He is a very good God. I hope you believe that even IN your pain today!
“The problem is not coming to God overwhelmed and with our doubts. The problem is when those doubts become our ruler instead of Jesus. ”
Brooke graduated from the University of Georgia in May of 2019 as a special education major. She started full-time as the youth girls associate and intern director at Watkinsville shortly after graduating. Brooke served as an intern for three years and has a passion to see young people love Jesus with their whole hearts! Brooke’s favorite things include walks, reading, and hanging out with all the lovely people that God has placed in her life!
Follow Brooke’s Instagram: @brookedavisss_
HAVE A COOL IDEA FOR A BLOG POST?
Contact Mac Willingham (478-960-0399) or email college@watkinsville.org with your idea and we’ll talk about getting a blog post about it!
Check out our most recent posts below!
Brentsen Wyatt // UGA Student & Worship Intern