(Brokenness: How God Redeems Pain and Suffering was provided to me free of charge by Mind and Media, who received it from the publisher for the purpose of being reviewed.)
When I received Brokenness in the mail and read the subtitle, “How God Redeems Pain and Suffering”, I was disappointed. It’s not that I don’t believe God redeems pain and suffering; it’s that people often follow that idea with “After all, He didn’t cause it. He only allows us to suffer.” Because I believe God is sovereign in all things, I take issue with this statement. If God is sovereign and omnipotent, what’s the difference between allowing and causing? It’s not like God’s saying, “Well, I really didn’t want her to go through this, but I guess I’ll let it slip by.” That’s a ridiculous thought, but it’s the logical conclusion of making the statement that God only “allows” suffering into our lives.
Then I opened the book and began reading. In chapter one, I found this:
“Many preachers and theologians argue that God doesn’t actively participate in sending negative things to His followers. They refer to the verse in the Bible that says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). Rather, they say, all the evil events that touch our lives come from the devil. The most God ever might do, they argue, is to allow the devil to do these evil things.
This theological outlook was popularized a few years ago in the book Why Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold Kushner. In this book, Rabbi Kushner says that God is essentially an uninvolved bystander when it comes to the negative and tragic circumstances that strike people’s lives. God doesn’t design these circumstances, nor does God approve of them. God’s role is merely to help and succor us when these bad things come into our lives.
In my opinion, this entire theological understanding of how Almighty God relates to our tragedies, sorrows, and setbacks is biblically bogus.”
And further on:
“To sum up, the Bible knows nothing of a God who is uninvolved or only marginally involved in sending negative circusmtances into people’s lives. As far as the Bible is concerned, God makes the final decision about every situation that enters people’s lives. God may choose to use intermediate instruments to accomplish those circumstances: other people, weather, even satanic forces. But it is God who personally designs, authorizes and sets limits on every one of the negative circumstances that strikes people’s lives. This is the worldview of the Bible.
Therefore, I disagree with Rabbi Kushner’s answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people. I believe that the bad things that happen to anybody happen because Almighty God decides to send those things into people’s lives for His own divine purposes….
Now, you may have a bigger problem with the idea of a God who personally afflicted a child with a disability and sent him into his parents’ lives than with the idea that God simply allowed this to happen. May I suggest that there really is no difference between the two concepts? If God is truly the sovereign God of the universe as He claims, then what He allows is synonymous with what He sends.
To put it another way, if God decides not to allow some tragedy, it simply doesn’t happen. Therefore, if God does decide to allow some tragedy, then by allowing it, God sends it. For all practical purposes, God allowing something and God sending something are identical.”
After clearing up any misconception about the source of suffering, Pastor Solomon begins the real work of the book: showing that brokenness is the only path to spiritual usefulness. Using numerous biblical figures, as well as Wesley, Moody, and other modern spiritual giants, the author demonstrates how God must break us in order to use us. He likens our “self” to the hard shell of a seed. Just as the shell of a seed must be broken in order for the plan to sprout, our self must be broken in order for the power of the Holy Spirit to flow through us to others. He points out that this is the true key to revival.
Pastor Solomon is not just putting forward ideas without any personal experience. He and his wife have spent the last twelve years caring for their severely disabled daughter, Jill. They will spend the rest of their lives doing so, unless God chooses to miraculously heal her. They have placed their hopes for Jill’s life and their own future on the altar of sacrifice. Through this process of being broken, God has transformed Pastor Solomon into a man He can use. A humble, broken man who desires God over and above everything. And because of that, God has blessed his ministry and his church. Pastor Solomon is quick to point out that he had nothing to do with it. Growth in his church didn’t begin to happen until he was broken.
This book has been a huge challenge in my life. I keep coming back to the central question, “Am I willing to let God break me in order for Him to use me?” This is not an easy question to answer; it is a terrifying question. I want to desire God more than my comfort, my health, anything else. But I’m not quite there yet.
I recommend this book without reservation. If you are going through a time of suffering, this book will help answer the questions you have. If not, this book will help prepare you for the time of brokenness that may come.
“I’ve often wondered what decision I’d make if God were to take me back in time to before Jill was born, and offer me a choice: perfect health for my daugher or brokenness for me. In light of what the Lord has done in my life, in my family, and in my ministry through Jill’s illness, I honestly know the right choice would be to say: Lord, You make no msitakes. Let it happen just like You chose the first time. The products were worth the process.
My flesh being what it is, however, I’m afraid that if the Lord were to give me the chance, I would make the wrong choice. I’d choose Jill’s perfect health, even though it would mean that my service to the Lord would be a mere shadow of what it has become. Perhaps this is why the Lord will never offer me – or you – such a choice….
It would be easy to say, “Lon, this is wonderful, but is it fair that Jill has to live a life of suffering so that you can be a gerater servant and the work of God can move forward?”
Believe me, I have asked that question more times than can be numbered. And here are my answers. Jill doesn’t know she’s disabled. She’s content, happy, and knows that Brenda and I love her deeply. She understands that her brothers, her caregviers, and hundreds of people who know her at our church love her too. Jill’s every need is met and she wants for nothing. Were Jill able to speak, she would tell us that she doesn’t feel the unfairness about her life that we judge to be there.
More importantly, I believe what the Bible tells us, that God doesn’t settle all accounts here on earth. Some are settled on the other side, in heaven. I believe Jill’s illness is not an accident or a random act of fate but God’s perfect plan for her life and mine. And I believe God has a great reward awaiting Jill in heaven because she was willing to live the life He chose for her so His purposes could be realized on earth. In haeven, not only will Jill be healed and whole for all eternity, but she will enjoy heavenly rewards that I can only imagine. God is going to exalt Jill, and those of us who served her on earth are going to be really glad we did when we get to heaven.”
(Related post.)
has been life-changing, but I’ll be glad to get the four to five hours a week back that I’ve spent preparing.
