“Where is God When it Hurts?”  That’s the title of a book by Christian author, Phillip Yancey.  I must confess that Yancey is one of my favorite authors.  It has been many years since I read the book, but I do know that Yancey’s treatment of the question is both fair and Biblical.  Fair to the person going through pain, be it emotional or physical, and fair to the God of the Bible, who promises followers of Jesus Christ an eternal world that is “pain free.”  Eternity.  Heaven.  However, we are not there yet.  And this is “painfully” true to so many who consider themselves to be committed disciples of Jesus.  Their worlds are filled with pain.  They regularly experience the “trouble” Jesus promised would be a part of this world.

I have learned this through serving as a hospice chaplain for nearly fifteen months.  My regular job was meeting people at their places of pain, of great pain.  The patient was struggling with physical pain, fear of death, uncertainty of when it would occur.  The family members were experiencing immense grief as they did not want to let go of their loved ones.  I offered no real answers for the many “why” questions they asked.  Instead, I offered them reassurance of God’s love and presence, as I reminded them that he was moved by their pain and was ever-present.

In fact, the last sentence I wrote is the answer to the question I opened this devotional with, the question, “Where is God When it Hurts?”  He is closer than we can ever imagine.  He is more concerned than we realize.  He is moved beyond words.  He cares.  Did you read that last sentence?  He cares.  He cares about the effects of disease on our bodies and the resulting pain we experience.  He cares about the insecurity we feel.  He cares about the injustice we may have been victims of.  He cares about how hard it is for us to forgive those who have hurt us.  He cares about the tears we have shed and the brokenness we feel.  We serve a God who cares.  How do we know?

The cross is how we know.  Jesus was fully God and fully man.  Mysterious.  Hard to explain.  Yet, what it means is that God knows and understands human pain in every way imaginable.  Jesus was dying for our sins, there can be no doubt.  His sacrifice has secured our pardon.  However, he was also identifying with every form of pain that can be thrown at human beings in this world.  Death by crucifixion is physically painful enough, but Jesus was mocked and ridiculed as he died, adding to his physical pain a cruel emotional type of pain.  And he dealt with it alone, by himself.    

The words sympathy and empathy have similar meanings, but they differ in one critical respect.  Sympathy is compassion.  Yet, empathy takes it a step further.  It is compassion we experience because we have been there before.  Empathy is compassion that has become personal because we have experienced the same pain.  And that’s how we know God is present in our pain.  Because he has been there before, in and through Jesus, in ways we cannot imagine.  He has been there, but it doesn’t stop there.  He enters our pain through his Spirit, and he prays for us.  “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with wordless groans” (Romans 8:26).  “Wordless groans” come from deep pain.  Deep pain God experiences with us.

One of the most important ways we can minister to followers of Jesus who are experiencing great pain is to remind them of God’s presence, to be physical reminders of our God who cares.  And trust me, this can make all the difference in the world.  God will use us to touch people in ways that are beyond our ability to understand.  Who do you know who is hurting today?  Might you serve as a reminder of God’s presence to them?  Might you be God’s instrument of comfort through your presence?