Pain and Sin

During the old testament times, and even in some cultures nowadays, people try to associate pain with sins. In John 9, Jesus disciples asked him about the blind man they saw and said, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:1-3).” Rabbis taught that if someone suffered from a physical problem, then the person, his parents, or ancestors had sinned.

Our pain has a purpose. Our suffering is not pointless. Actually, God can even give a purpose to our senseless pain. There is always a reason for what we’re going through. God’s purpose is to use our suffering to help us become more like Jesus. That is to say, our suffering is never in vain. He is at work in EVERYTHING to bring about Christ-like maturity. Instead of asking God to remove the pain away, let’s ask God to open our eyes to see what He wants to reveal through our suffering.