Why Is My Pain Unending?
When faced with pain and affliction, it's our wisdom and duty to trust in God's revealed reasons and sit silent, rather than questioning His doings.
Thomas Brooks addresses the question of unending pain and suffering, emphasizing that while God has reasons for His actions, He is not obligated to reveal them to us. He warns against questioning God's decisions, asserting that God, as the ultimate authority, has the right to afflict without explanation. Brooks encourages believers to accept their afflictions with silence and trust, recognizing that God's purposes are ultimately for their benefit, including the purification of their lives and souls. He reminds Christians that the hidden reasons for suffering belong to God alone, urging them to focus on the revealed truths in Scripture.
Text
"Why is my pain unending and my wound
grievous and incurable?" Jeremiah 15:18
Though God has always reason for what He does--yet
He is not bound to show us the reasons of His doings.
It is an evil and a dangerous thing to cavil at, or to
question God's proceedings--who may do with His own
what He pleases. He is unaccountable and uncontrollable;
and therefore none has a right to question Him.
As no man may question God's right to afflict him, nor
His righteousness in afflicting him; so no man may
question the reasons why He afflicts him. As no man
can compel God to give a reason for His doings; so no
man may dare to ask Him the particular reasons of His
doings.
Kings are not bound to give their subjects a reason of
their doings; and shall we bind God to give us a reason
of His doings, who is the King of kings and Lord of Lords,
and whose will is the true and only rule of justice?
The general grounds and reasons which God has laid
down in His word why He afflicts His people, as--that
is for their profit; for the purging away of their sins; for
the purifying of their lives; and for the saving of their
souls--should work them to be silent and satisfied under
all their afflictions; though God should never satisfy their
curiosity in giving them an account of some more hidden
causes which may lie secret in the abysses of His eternal
knowledge and infallible will.
Ah, Christian! it is your wisdom and duty to sit silent
and mute under the afflicting hand of God upon the
account of revealed reasons, without making any
curious inquiry into those more secret reasons which
are locked up in the golden cabinet of God's own
bosom! "The secret things belong to the Lord our
God." Deuteronomy 29:29
Sermon Outline
- I. God's Sovereignty and Unaccountability
- A. God is not bound to show us the reasons of His doings
- B. He is unaccountable and uncontrollable
- II. The Dangers of Questioning God's Proceedings
- A. It is an evil and a dangerous thing to cavil at or question God's proceedings
- B. No man may question God's right to afflict him or His righteousness in afflicting him
- III. The General Grounds and Reasons for Affliction
- A. For the profit of His people
- B. For the purging away of their sins
- C. For the purifying of their lives and the saving of their souls
Key Quotes
“It is an evil and a dangerous thing to cavil at, or to question God's proceedings--who may do with His own what He pleases.” — Thomas Brooks
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God.” — Thomas Brooks
“Ah, Christian! it is your wisdom and duty to sit silent and mute under the afflicting hand of God upon the account of revealed reasons, without making any curious inquiry into those more secret reasons which are locked up in the golden cabinet of God's own bosom!” — Thomas Brooks
Application Points
- When suffering, trust in the revealed reasons God has given us in His word, rather than questioning His doings.
- Sit silent and mute under God's affliction, trusting in His goodness and sovereignty.
- Remember that the general grounds and reasons God has laid down for afflicting His people are for their profit, the purging away of their sins, and the saving of their souls.