(#1) An Introduction

What did CS Lewis say about Pain?

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: Pain he says is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

My question, how did Lewis know this? Was it intuition? Inspiration? Experience? Maybe. Or maybe he leant it from Jesus in Luke 13:1-9? For Luke 13 is a word on suffering and pain. And what to do, in fact, beyond suffering. Please read the text.

A Nigerian poet once said:

When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

Once suffering has sat down on his own stool in your household, what you what will you then do? How will you handle it? How are you handling it right now?

See, whether in the Book of Job or in the Psalms, the cause and reason for individual suffering is rarely given. That information is usually never present. But what to do in the face of suffering is strongly prescribed and usually simply stated. That is because it is wisdom, (rather than mere information) present in these texts.

Luke 13 is a similar text, but with fewer words, and many layers. I ask you to please ponder and reflect on this text this week, alongside maybe Job, the Psalms, Hebrews and the Book of Revelation depending on your time and thirst levels.

Three things to do in the face of suffering from this text:

1. Don’t ever Want suffering. V1
2. Don’t ever Waste the opportunities presented in suffering. V2-5
3. Don’t ever Wait to act in the face of suffering. V6-9

Point 1 tomorrow.