On Pain and Suffering

by Dr. Peter A. Kerr

Within Reformed theology, suffering is frequently interpreted as divinely ordained pedagogy. Affliction is not merely foreknown or permitted but positively willed as an instrument of sanctification and as a means by which God displays His glory. Texts such as Romans 8:28, Hebrews 12:6–11, and Joseph’s declaration in Genesis 50:20 are often read through a decretal lens: suffering occurs because God has determined it to occur for morally sufficient reasons.

This framework has genuine pastoral intent. It seeks to assure believers that their pain is not meaningless and that no event lies outside God’s sovereign purpose. Yet when examined through the lens of holy love rather than sovereign control, a deeper problem emerges. The issue is not that God redeems suffering—Scripture is unambiguous that He does—but that suffering itself becomes tacitly elevated into a preferred pedagogical instrument. Within this logic, evil is no longer merely what God overcomes; it becomes what God intentionally employs.

LUMEN presses a decisive distinction here between divine use and divine desire.

Holy love does not require suffering in order to mature creatures. Love requires freedom, time, and real participation. Suffering enters the economy of formation only because freedom entails the genuine possibility of rupture, resistance, and harm. In other words, suffering is not intrinsic to God’s pedagogy; it is incidental to a world in which love is real rather than programmed.

Holiness is plenitude rather than lack. God does not need brokenness in order to teach wholeness, nor pain in order to communicate goodness. The formative power belongs to love itself: its patience, its illumination, its invitation, its endurance. Suffering becomes pedagogically relevant only after something has already gone wrong—after love has been refused, distorted, or wounded within the created order.

This reframing preserves what Scripture affirms without importing what it does not require. Hebrews 12 does not say God prefers affliction as a teaching tool; it says God disciplines His children as a loving Father. Discipline names intentional formation, not the direct causation of harm. Parents do not teach maturity by desiring injury; they teach within a world where injury is sometimes unavoidable. When harm occurs, love intervenes to heal, reorient, and strengthen. Divine discipline operates in precisely this manner.

Reformed theology often collapses this distinction by identifying God’s ultimate will so tightly with every concrete outcome that permission and intention become functionally indistinguishable. Once this collapse occurs, suffering easily slides from tragic necessity to divinely curated means. God does not merely work with suffering; He plans it. The result is a God whose holiness risks appearing morally asymmetric: forbidding evil to creatures while strategically deploying it Himself.

LUMEN resists this move by re-centering holiness as non-competitive love. God does not relate to creation as a chessboard on which suffering is optimally placed for maximal sanctifying effect. God relates as a Father committed to forming sons and daughters capable of love. When suffering arises, God’s action is remedial, not instrumental. He works through it because He must remain faithful to freedom and history—not because suffering is an efficient teacher.

This distinction matters profoundly for moral formation. If suffering is viewed as divinely preferred, believers may be tempted either to spiritualize harm, minimize injustice, or passively accept preventable evil as “God’s lesson.” Such responses are distortions of holiness. Holy love resists suffering even while redeeming it. Jesus does not praise affliction as educational; He heals the sick (Matt 8:16–17; Luke 4:40), confronts oppression (Luke 4:18–19; Mark 10:42–45), weeps at graves (John 11:33–35), and rebukes those who interpret tragedy as divinely targeted instruction (Luke 13:1–5; John 9:1–3).

Even the cross, the central locus of redemptive suffering, fits this pattern. The cross is not God’s preferred method (Jesus asks that He be relieved of the duty) but God’s faithful response to alienating sin. It is the point at which divine love enters fully into the consequences of creaturely sin in order to heal from within. The cross reveals not that God needs suffering to save, but that God will not abandon creation even when suffering becomes unavoidable.

Thus, suffering teaches only secondarily. What teaches primarily is love’s presence within suffering: God’s refusal to withdraw, His patience with growth, His illumination amid confusion, His resurrection beyond loss. Sanctification does not flow from pain itself but from the way divine love accompanies, interprets, and transforms pain without ever sanctifying the evil that caused it.

The pedagogical center therefore shifts. The question is no longer “What lesson did God intend by this suffering?” but “How is God loving, healing, and forming within this situation while opposing the suffering itself?” This preserves God’s sovereignty without making Him morally complicit, and it preserves hope without requiring believers to call evil good.

In this way, we do not weaken the doctrine of providence. We purify it. God remains sovereign not because He authors every wound, but because no wound can finally defeat His holy love.

Rejoice with those who Rejoice, Mourn with those who Mourn

Within LUMEN, comfort for the afflicted does not come from explaining their pain as divinely planned, but from assuring them they are never abandoned within it. The deepest consolation LUMEN offers is not an answer to “Why did this happen?” but a promise about “Who is with me now, and where this is going” (Ps 23:4; Matt 28:20).

First, LUMEN offers the comfort of God’s unbroken nearness. Affliction does not signal divine displeasure, distance, or abandonment. Like a parent observing a playground, God does not withdraw when His children suffer; He moves closer (Ps 34:18). But God is not watching pain from a distance in order to extract lessons from it. His Spirit is present within it—listening, grieving, strengthening, illuminating, and sustaining (Rom 8:26–27). The afflicted are not objects in a pedagogical experiment but beloved persons whose dignity remains intact even in weakness (Isa 43:1–2).

Second, “God works all things together for good” is properly seen as a promise of faithfulness, not a statement of determinism. When Scripture says God works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28), it does not mean that every event is good, chosen, or desired. It means that no event—however tragic, unjust, or senseless—has the power to derail God’s loving purpose for those who remain turned toward Him (Gen 50:20). God does not need to cause suffering in order to bring good from it. His goodness is so plenary that it can enter what He did not will and still heal, reorient, and redeem (Joel 2:25).

This is a profoundly different kind of comfort. It tells the afflicted: “This did not happen because God wanted it. But it will not have the final word. God will weave even this into a story that bends toward life” (Rev 21:4).

Third, God’s “no” can be as loving as His “yes.” In affliction, unanswered prayers taken wrongly often wound more deeply than pain itself. We cannot dismiss this anguish by appealing to mystery alone. Instead, we must realize God has the greater perspective and so divine refusal is not arbitrary or indifferent (Isa 55:8–9). God’s “no” is never the withholding of love; it is the protection of a deeper good that cannot yet be seen (2 Cor 12:7–9).

Sometimes God says no because a requested outcome would collapse freedom, stunt growth, entrench harm, or prematurely close a story still unfolding. At other times, God says no because He is committed to forming a person rather than merely fixing a moment (Heb 12:10–11). The comfort here is not that every desire is fulfilled, but that no refusal is ever detached from love. God’s “no” is not silence; it is a different form of faithfulness (Lam 3:31–33).

Fourth, we must offer hope without sanctifying pain. If pain is banned from Heaven, it is probably not a tool God inflicts us with on earth (Rev 21:4). Hurting people should never be asked to call their suffering “good,” “necessary,” or “meant to be.” Christians should refuse to baptize evil in order to preserve hope. Blaming God by explaining evil and pain as inflected as part of His predetermined will misrepresents His majesty, degrades His glory, and profanes His name (Jas 1:13).

The Bible distinguishes between what our good God opposes and what He redeems. God hates what harms His children, even while He remains powerful enough to bring healing from it (Ps 11:5; Rom 12:9). This allows sufferers to grieve honestly without fearing that their lament is a lack of faith (Ps 13:1–2).

Fifth, there is comfort in God’s commitment to completion. Affliction often fragments life, leaving stories that feel unfinished and unresolved. The afflicted need to know God’s work is patient, not rushed; relational, not transactional. What is not healed now is not forgotten. What is not resolved in this life is not abandoned. God’s promise is not merely survival but fulfillment—the eventual mending of every rupture, the clarification of every confusion, and the restoration of every love that has been wounded but not surrendered (Phil 1:6; 1 Cor 13:12).

Finally, we may be comforted by redefining strength. The afflicted are not required to understand, justify, or spiritually optimize their pain. They are only invited to remain open—to keep turning toward the light they can still see (John 1:5). Even fragile trust counts as faith. Even wordless endurance is prayer (Rom 8:26). God’s love does not demand comprehension before it offers communion (Ps 62:8).

In sum, LUMEN comforts the afflicted by saying this: God did not need your suffering in order to love you. He does not require it to form you. Yet He will not waste it, abandon you within it, or allow it to define the final shape of your life. His yes will come in time, His no is never loveless, and His good is large enough to gather even this into a future still worth trusting (2 Cor 4:16–18).

Supporting Scripture (in NASB)

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Hebrews 12:6–11 “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

Hebrews 12 (Note: Refers to the chapter generally, particularly the discipline theme in verses 6–11 quoted above.)

Matthew 8:16–17 “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.’”

Luke 4:40 “While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.”

Luke 4:18–19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Mark 10:42–45 “Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”

John 11:33–35 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept.”

Luke 13:1–5 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’”

John 9:1–3 “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Romans 8:26–27 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Isaiah 43:1–2 “But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.’”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

Joel 2:25 “Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.”

Revelation 21:4 “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Isaiah 55:8–9 “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.’”

2 Corinthians 12:7–9 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

Hebrews 12:10–11 “For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Lamentations 3:31–33 “For the Lord will not reject forever, For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.”

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

Psalm 11:5 “The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

Psalm 13:1–2 “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

John 1:5 “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Romans 8:26 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Psalm 62:8 “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Job 42:10–17 “The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold. Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. And Job died, an old man and full of days.”

Psalm 139:23–24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

John 9:2–3 “And His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

Job 2:13 “Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Romans 8:38–39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Isaiah 49:15–16 “‘Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.’”

Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”