Recently, my Bible study group came face-to-face with the age-old problem: “Why do the righteous suffer?” After almost an hour of discussion, a member of our group said, “I’ve recently been reading the book of James. There is a whole section about the problem of pain.” Roger, would you please unpack that for us?
Sincerely, Matt

Dear Matt,

Many passages in the Bible give us insight for handling pain. I’m thinking of books and passages like Job, many of the Psalms, Lamentations, Hebrews 12, and James.

James was facing intense persecution in the early church. In his writings, he shared his suffering and God’s work in his life. And in doing so, he addresses the problem of pain in our lives.

Note that there are many types of pain: emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, grief, guilt, loss, sin, and on and on goes the list. Fortunately, James’ principles are effective in the midst of any type of pain or problem.

So, I’d like to answer your question by using James’ insights on the matter.