Made for Pain?

Semis overturned.  Trees uprooted. Houses shredded to pieces. Mementos litter an unchartable land.  Tornadoes remind us of the fragility of life with their wails like train horns blasting through the turmoil, quoting Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust (and turbulent winds) destroy."

We thought we had built immovable structures. With hours of planning, careful precision, and meticulous maintenance, everything was perfectly in place--accessible and aesthetically pleasing.

But then the storms came.

The winds clawed their way in, snarling.

We discovered boards were made to snap, roofs were made to cave in, cars were made for crushing, clothes were made for rips and tears, bones were made to break, skin was made to be punctured, and hearts were made for sorrow.

Why wouldn't God make things a little stronger? Why couldn't He make bones unbreakable and skin tough? Why did He create such a monster that could destroy a car, a house, a life? Why does God make things so fragile? Why was it all made to fall apart? Were we just made to feel pain?

No!

We were made to heal. Even a pile of rubble can be reused, recreated into something new. And our bodies! Oh, what marvelous pieces of creation! New cells come to life all the time, bustling with energy, renewing life within us.

God created amazing things, but all physical things are temporary and subject to fall apart. Evil is in the world, and sometimes it feels like everything we thought was secure is caving in around us. But keep reading, because the story doesn't end there! After the terrible storm tells us not to store up treasures on earth, the winds die down, the clouds thin, and a brilliant display of colors streaks across the sky, declaring that life goes on. There is a Healer; indeed, God has always made a way for healing--although not always in the way we expect. Through this Healer, we can store up treasures in heaven, "where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (vs 20).

The question of evil in the world and God's role has always been a tricky one to answer. Scripture makes it pretty clear that God is good and created things that are good and that mankind is responsible for the Fall. But--not to gloss over that--the great truth is that God, knowing we would Fall, created a way to renew life through His Son and we were made to heal.