A Sober Look At Suffering, Part II

All of the pain, all of the strife, all of the suffering, all of the struggles, all of the turmoil, all of the disappointments, all of the sorrow, all of the failures, all of the betrayals, all of the lies, and ultimately all of the deaths of mankind can be attributed to this one, simple thing—sin.

The distress of life goes back to the dire consequences and effects of the fall. Consider the first curse of Genesis 3:

Work

Men were created to work. God placed Adam in the garden to cultivate it and to keep it. Work was an inherent part of his created purpose. He was expected to tend the garden and produce good fruit by it so that he and his wife would have something to eat. But after sin entered the world, the offended Creator pronounced condemnation upon the dirt. From that point forward the ground would be bound up and hardened, filled with weeds and thorns. Adam would not only have to work, but now he would have to work hard. Much of his labor would be in vain because drought, disease, and the debilitating effect of tares would destroy the plants or render them infertile. Adam would sweat and toil and strain if he would have bread to put on the table.

This entanglement was not restricted to Adam, nor to the agrarian vocation. Adam’s sons would soon discover that it was also their lot in life to find it difficult to profit from their labors. And his son’s sons. And their sons, even to the present day. 

In our age, at least in the western world, a man is required to do more than plant a few rows or raise a few pigs and cows. The cost of living—that is, what it takes to maintain a lifestyle which includes house, transportation, food, education, clothing, etc.—demands that he earn enough money to purchase what is necessary to get along in this culture. We call it “earning a living.” Today’s man must land a job equal to his expenditures. But just as the insect or hailstorm might destroy the farmer’s crops at any time, so also an employee never knows when the pink slip will accompany what turns out to be his final paycheck. 

And such uncertainty in the job market creates real stress in the the minds and stomachs of men. Lay-off, firing, corporate bankruptcy, and other threats loom over the worker so that financial security alludes him. The concerns are real, and they weigh heavily on a man’s back like a 90-pound sack of fertilizer.

How many of us have experienced, or are currently experiencing, the hardship and anxiety that come as a result of the difficulty and futility of work? How many of us know all too well the reality of this curse? We know what it’s like to be afraid that one more hospital bill may deplete our vanishing savings accounts, that one more house or car repair may be the devastating blow. 

Sin has brought great trouble upon mankind in the sphere of work. 

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