Pain and the Father

"Religion is for people who want to stay out of hell. Christianity is for people who have been there." ~ Steve Brown

I do not think that Steve is talking about hell in the eternal sense here, but in a metaphorical sense. I think his point in the above quote is that we only really understand God's grace and truth when we have been through hell or are going through hell and acknowledge that it was/is hell. How you ever heard someone say, "I never ask God why, I only ask why not?" I sometimes wonder about people who say things like that. I have said things similar before, just trying to be spiritual and that is not right. I am not saying all people who say similar things do it for that reason. Some may really be at that point, I suppose, or perhaps some do it because they are trying to build an attitude of complete trust and rejoicing in Him, and I can understand that, but does trust mean we never ask "why?" or say to God "it hurts!"?

God is our Father and Jesus makes it clear in His teaching that we are to be like children when it comes to relating to God. What parent would want their child to quietly tough it out when things hurt? What parent would rather their children say "I am fine" in times of turmoil than say "I am hurting"? When children know they are loved they do not deny pain but run to the parent that loves them and cry in their arms. I am not a parent, but I believe I am not wrong when I say that this reaction is what parents would want. Is God any different? No, He is the perfect Father and like a good father He wants us to come to Him when it hurts and tell Him that we are in pain. Then, when we acknowledge that before Him, He can pour out His grace on us and heal the wound. The Psalmists knew this for 38% of the time they cried out to God with broken hearts and their words are now part of God's inspired Word. How can we presume to think we should act any differently?

By His Grace,
Taylor