The Problem of Pain

There is no way to ignore the fact that there is pain and suffering in the world that we live in. Through “The Problem of Pain,” C. S. Lewis acknowledges the many questions the world has about an all-powerful, all-loving God and the problem of pain. Though Lewis is not perfect by any means, he does bring a lot of challenging ideas to the table and many can be backed up with Scripture.   

One point that C. S. Lewis makes as to why pain is in our world is because as creatures of a higher being, we need to surrender ourselves to the Creator. Yet, with this world, it is hard to be able to be reminded of this self-surrender. Lewis argues that one way we are reminded to be in constant surrender is through suffering. When everything is going well and I feel like I can ace a test or give the best party I can for my friends birthday, I have less of a desire to surrender my self-will to God. But when I realize that I am going through pain, I know that it is something that can not be ignored. C. S. Lewis says it well when he talks about how “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” When I read this quote, I wondered where it is that God has had to use pain in some way to speak to me. I thought of a time when I fell off my bike and my dad was there to show me a father’s love, messing with a dog while she was hungry and was bit, watching my grandpa suffer through pain which caused me to learn patience like never before, go through many days of pure homesickness last semester, and walking into a home in Africa with simply a dirt floor and straw roof where a mom cooked food for children with bloated stomachs. Though none of these times seemed fun to go through, I saw God’s hand at work. When I think about it, I truly did know that God was shouting at me. 

One of Lewis’ metaphors reminded me of Proverbs 26:11 when he says how we need tribulation in our life. If we do not have it, then how do we know that we are growing. When things get easy or I am “freed” from a hardship in my life, I am so prone to go back to what I was doing. It is like how C. S. Lewis says it, I am like a “puppy when the hated bath is over - I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed.” How often am I willing to go back to the same way that God found me? I all to often forget the redeeming part that God is doing in me and head back to my flower bed where He will have to teach me the same thing again.