What Lent Teaches Us About Pain

This Week’s Reading: 

Excerpt from The Problem of Pain
C.S. Lewis 

“…we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  

Does Jesus Care?
Lyrics by J. Lincoln Hall and Frank E. Graeff 

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth and song?
When the burdens press
And the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long? 

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
And as the daylight fades
Into deep dark shades
Does He care enough to be near? 

Does Jesus care
When I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong?
When for my deep grief there’s no relief
Though the tears flow all the day long? 

Does Jesus care when I’ve said, “Goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me
And my sad heart aches
Till it nearly breaks
Is it aught to Him? Does He see? 

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares
His heart is touched with my grief
When the days are weary,
The long night dreary
I know my Savior cares.

Reflection: 

In this highly quoted passage from his book, The Problem of Pain, Lewis explores how people ignore God during prosperous times, only to be jarred awake to their need for Him when pain enters their lives. Lewis delves into the idea that a loving God uses pain to shape us into who He intends us to be, so we are to embrace, not reject, pain in our lives. 

The Lesson of Pain 

Lent is a time for us to be still so that God doesn’t have to shout to get our attention. It’s an opportunity to hear God’s whisper in that still, small voice and listen to Him speak despite all the noise in our everyday lives. In this Lenten season, we can silence the noise by focusing and reflecting on Jesus’ suffering and pain in light of our own.  

Lent mirrors the account given in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, when before He began His earthly ministry, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The passages explain that He also fasted 40 days and 40 nights. During this time, the devil tempted Jesus by saying, “If you are the Son of God…”

• Turn these stones into bread (which was especially cruel because Jesus was fasting) 

• Throw yourself off the temple and let God rescue you 

• Worship me and I’ll give you all the world’s kingdoms 

Basically, the devil tried to obstruct Jesus’ mission. But every time the devil tempted Him, Jesus responded with the Word of God. Jesus could have defended himself in a multitude of ways, but He chose to show us that God’s Word was good enough.  

This story teaches us that: 

• God prepares us for His calling on our lives
  
• We are tested when we pursue God’s will for us

• Satan will tempt us when we are weak 

• When temptation comes, respond with the Word of God 

• We can fully rely on God for all we need in every situation 

You’re Not Alone in Your Suffering 

Jesus suffered in that wilderness experience. He felt every form of pain—physical (hunger), emotional (loneliness), mental (isolation), spiritual (temptation)—that we too experience. This was a foreshadowing of the pain and suffering Jesus would endure leading up to His death on the cross.  

We can’t truly know with our finite minds the depth of Christ’s suffering, but God does allow us to experience the same forms of pain that Jesus experienced to make us more like Him. He promised to walk right beside us through that pain, so in your wilderness moment—the pain of loss, betrayal, rejection, sickness, broken dreams, loneliness, grief, or a shattered heart—God is right there with you (Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 23, John 16:33, Deuteronomy 31:8, Matthew 28:20). 

Truthfully, we don’t want to feel pain, so we often try to avoid it or numb it. But, when we allow ourselves to embrace it, walk in it, and accept its cleansing, it will make us stronger, more dependent upon Him, and refined for the life God has called us to live. Then, once we come through that season of pain, we can help someone else through theirs. 

Pain has no power over us if we embrace it. In Matthew 26:38-39, Jesus said His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, yet he accepted the torture of the cross. The Apostle Paul was afflicted in every way but was not crushed (2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 12:9). Eventually, healing comes, wholeness comes, strength is restored, and hope is renewed. 

Sometimes physical or mental healing doesn’t fully come until we get to Heaven, but embracing the pain of this side of eternity makes us stronger to endure it. The hope of Heaven is that much sweeter when we do. I speak from experience—I have experienced death, loss, brokenness, and extreme grief, but over time, God met me with healing, wholeness, strength, and hope. 

Jesus was described in Isaiah 53 as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. According to Hebrews 2, He was made perfect through suffering. We can take comfort in knowing that He understands what we’re going through, He is there with us in our pain, and yes, He cares. 

Not only does He care, but He is close, very close to us when our hearts are broken. The Psalmist reminds us: 

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” – Psalm 34:18 

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4 

Questions to Consider:  

1. How can the pain I’m experiencing benefit me? What is it teaching me about myself? How has it made me more like Jesus?
2. How can the pain I’m experiencing benefit someone else? Think of someone that you can reach out to and support in their season of pain. How can you help this person?
3. How can the pain I’m experiencing benefit my relationship with God? In what ways has this pain caused me to walk closer to Him?

Closing Prayer: 

Lord, help me embrace the pain in my life. Help me to walk in it, knowing that you have a purpose for it in Your perfect plan for my life. Give me the strength to trust You in the process, knowing that You will work it all for good as You have promised. Let my pain change me to be more like Jesus. In this season of Lent, help me to consider His suffering and proclaim with all confidence and hope that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5b)! In Jesus’ powerful name, Amen (and amen).