Redeeming Love

The other day in class, while discussing why humans suffer through pain, we came to some conclusions: pain can help us learn, pain can be redemptive, and pain can be good. But the big question to ask is: can pain be good all the time?

Two of my cousins, Allison (20) and Adam (21), were both killed in car accidents. Each of these accidents brought much pain and sadness to my dad’s family. However, both accidents have affected others in two very different ways; the pain of losing Allison resulted in something good while losing Adam resulted in something not so good.

At Allison’s funeral, it was beautiful to see how many people she had touched in her short life-time. We all spent some time reflecting on stories and memories of Allison and her compassionate heart. At one point, Allison’s brother came to the front and told this story:

Allison always wanted to be giving to others. She has never let an opportunity to help another person pass by her. Allison was like that even after she left us. The day after Allison passed away, the doctors called and said that there was a young man who had been in an accident and needed a heart transplant if he were to survive. Now about a month before Allison passed away, she one day told my mom that if anything happened to her, she would like to have her organs donated to someone. Well…this was Allison’s chance. We gave the doctors permission and they performed the heart surgery.

Can pain be good all the time? In this case, yes. The pain of losing Allison brought joy and life to someone else and the Lord’s redeeming love was revealed.

Losing Adam was really difficult for my dad. Soon after Adam passed away, my dad began coping with the pain by isolating himself and turning to alcohol. About a year had gone by since Adam’s death that my dad told my sisters and me that he wanted to get a divorce. The pain of losing Adam caused more pain of losing my dad and continues to cause pain. However, I have been able to see God’s redeeming love throughout this difficult situation.

So once again: Can pain be good all the time? “No. It can’t be good all the time,” I want to say. One pain brought even more pain. But can I really say that this pain was completely bad? Like I said earlier, I have been shown God’s redeeming love. Isn’t that good? Maybe we shouldn’t be focusing on just the pain itself, but God’s redeeming love; His relentless, faithful love.