Inspire, Summer 2004

24 Summer 2004 embedded in our sensory organs? Ideally, of course, we would not have to feel any pain if we could not be burned. Unfortunately, that is not our present reality. When pain enters our lives, we must be as honest about our feelings when expressing them to God as, for example, was David. The book of Psalms is rich with David’s emotional outpourings to God. His intensely candid expressions were part of his worship, not his lashing out at God. God presents Himself as the supreme Helper and Healer. But like the Great Parent that He is, God encourages His children to learn to help one another as He has helped us. Unfortunately, when troubles arise, too often we exhibit the same tendencies as Job’s friends to seek out fault, to question one’s faith, or to overemphasize justice. It is without a doubt that God could have changed the world without ever having to step beyond the throne room of heaven. Yet He chose to come into our existence and allowed Himself to be physically touched by stained humanity. Because Jesus completely participated in our suffering, we are able to understand relief and can have our hope vividly pinned upon His promise of eternal joy! John Stott said, “He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His” ( The Cross of Christ ). Following the example of His Son, Jesus Christ, God desires for us to not step away from being personally burdened by another person’s troubles or even to hide our own sense of inadequacies to respond. As God so entered into our suffering, we are to enter into one another’s suffering and grow together in the process. Until Jesus comes again, our journey in the meantime needs to be one that is marked by a proactive participation in the burden- sharing and mutually-supporting way of life. No one is free from pain, and we should not be so mistaken as to think that nothing beyond “God–and-I” can handle everything. If it were so, Jesus might not have emphasized the importance and similarity of the second greatest commandment to the first (Matthew 22:35-40). Rather, we should re-orient ourselves to the same mindset as God, “who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18). Those who are spiritual are to restore those in sin in a spirit of gentleness and to bear another’s burden (Galatians 6:1-2). To “rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15) — such is the shared journey of life. Pain exposes humanity’s frailty and fallibility, and a positive response to pain compels us to seek help ... God presents Himself as the supreme Helper and Healer. But like the Great Parent that He is, God encourages His children to learn to help one another as He has helped us. Dr. Luke Tse is assistant professor of psychology at Cedarville University. He was born in Nanjing, China, and lived in Hong Kong and Singapore before immigrating to the United States at the age of 18. Prior to coming to Cedarville with his wife, Linda, in 2001, he earned his master of divinity and Ph.D. degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and served as a pastor in Louisiana. Luke also serves as one of the counselors at Christian Counseling Associates in Huber Heights, Ohio.