Where is God when it Hurts – Painless Hell

Pain as freedom. That’s a strange thought. Yet, as Yancey recounts his experiences of seeing the effects of leprosy and other diseases that have deadened the senses first-hand, it’s got merit.

“Curse God and die!” How often that lying promise of comfort in condemning God comes to us. That lie presents itself to us when we stub toes and feel a little pain, and when we lose toes altogether in great pain. We are tempted to curse God for pain every day. How often do people curse God for every little entrance of unpleasantness on their lives?

How can we curse the God who suffered the pains of the wrath of God in our place? Let us only cry out with the Psalmist, “Why, O Lord?” and “How long, O Lord?” Leave the accusing to the Accuser – as for us, like Job, let us trust the God who governs heaven and earth perfectly.

For painlessness is a hell of its own. This chapter isn’t for the faint of heart. Yancey paints a horrifically vivid picture of life without the sensation of pain. Why? “I had even come to see it as a ‘gift.’ But knowledge alone was not enough to overcome my instinctive resistance to pain.” Pain, as a general fact of life, is a gift (as we saw in the last post/chapter).

A life free from pain can seem so appealing. However, a life free from all pain is a prison.[1] A hell on earth, in its own right.

Pain is not an unpleasantness to be avoided at all costs. In a thousand ways large and small, pain serves us each day, making possible normal life on this planet. If we are healthy, pain cells alert us when to go to the bathroom, when to change shoes, when to loosen the grip on a mop handle or rake, when to blink. Without pain, we would lead lives of paranoia, defenseless against unfelt dangers. The only safe environment for a painless person is to stay in bed all day… but even that produces bedsores.

Philip Yancey, where is god when it hurts? chapter 3.

Series page:

Philip Yancey’s Where Is God When It Hurts? – Standing Before God, This We Are and No More

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[1] To be clear, there are circumstances that call for pain relief. Pain can be a disease of its own. Pain can become chronic, betraying its general purpose.