Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

In Isaiah 43 God says that he made us for his glory to show his glorious beauty through enjoying him above all things. However, we all fall short of the glory of God, we no longer can see his beauty and we became sinners enslaved by everything and prisoners of the beauty of things that are created. We act as if we belong to ourselves and are free to do whatever pleases and satisfies us. But that is a lie! We don’t belong to ourselves, we still belong to God even if fallen people can’t see that truth, that doesn’t change anything, we are his creature and we belong to him. That is God made us and placed us in his vineyard to accomplish his purposes.

God is just

God owns us and owes us nothing at all. In our sinful status, we stand in awe before the majesty of our God. We are the ones who are not living to the purpose which they were made to accomplish. We don’t have the right to ask God for anything. We deserve to be annihilated because we are no more useful to God nor to his vineyard. We are evil and our hearts are full of evil desires long to glorify man. We insulted God and denied his power and rights, we are no longer friends but enemies of God, working against his will and purposes. God is just and his justice is always active. God is not a man who compromises his attributes or acts against his nature.

Pain and suffering are not our deserved punishment

Because God is angry with us then we suffer in this world. This is another lie! Our deserved punishment is not temporal pain and suffering. The most horrific pain that we could ever imagine is less than what we deserve. All of us suffer in this world, yet we enjoy life sometimes. Not even one single man lived, living or will live on this planet leaves the earth without enjoying a certain amount of happiness (common grace). You know what? If we want justice then the happy moments that life throws at us sometimes is injustice! We don’t deserve anything good (Roman 3:10). We don’t deserve life, smiles, peace, love, music, friends, or successes. The pain and suffering in our lives don’t indicate how loved or hated by God we are. Good people suffer more than bad people do. In some cases, children suffer more than thieves! Pain and suffering in our lives have nothing to do with our legal status before God. We deserve permanent hell and agony, not 70 or 80 years of irregular displeasure. If I suffer less than my neighbor then that doesn’t mean God loves me more than he loves my neighbor. It doesn’t mean that I do good works more than my friend does. If I am suffering more than my neighbor then I don’t have the right to complain or accuse God, I must always remember that I deserve eternal hell!

People who hold this distorted view about the relationship between God and suffering do good works for the wrong reason, they try to avoid pain in life by obeying God’s law as if God cares about the law more than he cares for us. This view of God and pain turn our relationship with him into a legalistic, empty, and self-centered one.

According to the word of God our pain and suffering are results of our original sin, the result of falling short of his glory at the beginning. This biblical view doesn’t diminish our pain or neglect it, instead, it gives it real value when it reveals its real reason.

Our hope in midst of pain and suffering

When we know that our temporal pain is not everything we deserve, our eyes will be turned towards the real and permanent pain; hell, eternal hell, the place where no common grace existed, no hope, no joy, no God.

We were supposed to go there, that was our final destination, where we belong. But God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son there in our place, to die so that we live, to feel the real pain so that we get restored.

The real pain was fully shown on the cross when Jesus called upon God but God didn’t answer when Jesus experienced what we deserve. His heart was torn so that our hearts might be healed. The Golgotha tells the greatest story ever, the story that shows which pain God saved us from.

We belong to him, our redeemer who saved us and sent Jesus to die in our place. When the unexpected happens we put our trust in him, we submit to his will in our life knowing that he does all things well, he never makes a mistake nor his providence falls once.

In our temporal eeriness, our hope is certain and our joy is complete. One day we will look and see his pierced hands and his beauty. One day he will restore everything, according to his promise, his glory will be imputed to us, incomparable glory. There will be no pain, no tears, and no heartaches. One day we will see him, our savior, our God.