Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion written by Steve Tracy, author of To Heal or to Harm: How Scripture Can Be Poison or Medicine to Abuse Survivors.
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At the height of World War 2, Primo Levy, a brilliant Italian chemist, lost his job, home, and freedom. Solely because he was a Jew, Levy was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, the gigantic extermination camp in Poland. Levi recounts a recurring dream during his incarceration. He dreamed he had been liberated from Auschwitz and returned to his family and friends. There was so much he needed to tell them about his hellish experiences. But as he turned to his listeners and began recounting his ordeal no one was listening. His closest community was completely indifferent and stared right through him. Worst of all, in his dream his sister got up while he was speaking and quietly left the room. Levi’s own flesh and blood could not see him. This recurring nightmare resulted in “pain in its pure state.”
While Levi experienced the most extreme forms of evil and suffering, his dream is the nightmare experience of many who suffer great pain. Their deepest pain flows out of not being seen, believed, or listened to — particularly by those who should — family, intimate friends, and spiritual leaders. For instance, when our abuse healing ministry, Mending the Soul, surveyed over fifty adult child sexual abuse survivors and parents of sexually abused children, we found that 61% of the respondents had disclosed the abuse to their families. But they were more than twice as likely to be disbelieved as believed. Furthermore, the vast majority of those who disclosed the abuse to their churches were not believed and not supported. Sadly, when the people you most rely on for validation and support don’t even believe you have suffered, it is quite natural to project this experience onto God, the ultimate authority. We can conclude (consciously or subconsciously) that the almighty God of the universe isn’t truly seeing our pain. We conclude that He doesn’t care.
In our suffering we must let Scripture reveal God’s heart. We must let Him, not Satan, tell us the truth about how God responds to our pain.
One of the most helpful biblical texts for understanding God’s response to His children’s pain is found in the book of Exodus. The Israelites had been in Egypt for 400 years. Initially, due to God’s providential elevation of Joseph to a position just under Pharoah, the Israelites experienced great prosperity. This dramatically changed when new Egyptian leaders emerged who were threatened by the Israelites’ growth. The Jews became slaves under cruel despotic masters who “made their lives bitter with harsh labor” and “worked them ruthlessly” (Exodus 1:13-14). Not only had the Israelites lost their freedom and well-being, but the Egyptians sought to destroy their future. They schemed to slaughter every Jewish baby boy (v. 15-16). The Israelites were being suffocated! Their pain was overwhelming. How did God respond to their suffering? Scripture gives a powerful description:
The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land. — Exodus 3:7-8
Notice how God responds — He sees, hears, feels, and comes down to rescue.
God Sees
Scripture declares that God sees (knows) absolutely everything that happens throughout human history. He never blinks. “Nothing in creation is hidden from God’s sight” (Hebrews 4:13). He knows everything about us. He sees every single injustice we suffer, all the pain we endure, and every trial we face (Hosea 13:5; Revelation 2:13).
God Hears
God sees our anguish and hears our cries. Every word we think, whisper, or shout, God hears and cares. Note for instance Psalm 56:8 where the psalmist declares:
Record my misery; list my tears on Your scroll — are they not in Your record?
This tells us how God listens to His children’s cries. He keeps a “record” of our pain and stores our tears in a (metaphorical) bottle. In other words, our loving Heavenly Father listens and remembers our anguished cries.
God Feels
Scripture attributes a wide range of emotions to God. He intimately relates to the humans he created. When we suffer, even if it is due to our own sinfulness, is causes God pain. Isaiah 63:9 states regarding God’s wayward children the Israelites:
In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. — ESV
Repeatedly the Israelites suffered greatly due to their unfaithfulness and yet God continued to be compassionate toward them. Over and over He delivered and preserved them. But more than that, in all of their afflictions, God Himself was afflicted.
God Rescues
God not only sees our suffering, hears our cries, and feels our pain, but He also works on our behalf to deliver us. While our final deliverance from pain lies in the future when Jesus returns and “makes all things new” (Revelation 21:5), God is continually at work in the present to redeem our pain and work through it for good (Romans 8:28). In our ministry to trauma survivors, we have been blessed with a front row seat to seeing how God delights in bringing beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3), even in the worst instances of evil and destruction.
God is a healer and a deliverer! He will never overlook His children’s suffering.
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Written for Devotionals Daily by Steve Tracy, author of To Heal or to Harm: How Scripture Can Be Poison or Medicine to Abuse Survivors, copyright Steven Tracy.
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Your Turn
Have you had people you care about minimize, deny, or ignore your pain? Have you consciously or subconsciously projected those hurtful experiences on to God? Talk directly to him about the pain you feel he isn’t seeing or responding to. Claim the beautiful promises of Exodus 3:7-8 for yourself. Remind yourself daily that no matter what trials you are experiencing, God sees your pain, hears your cries, cares about your suffering, and is working on your behalf. ~ Devotionals Daily