Every now and then, when times are tough and I’m struggling with frustration, disappointment, or worry, some well-meaning soul pats me on the back and attempts to console me with these words: “Hey, it could be worse.”
I must confess that although I understand and appreciate the sentiment, this often does very little to inspire in me any hope or optimism in the moment. To the contrary, it often comes across as a trite, halfhearted gesture which naïvely offers comfort in the midst of profound suffering simply by imploring the sufferer to look on the bright side.
Such glibness in the face of stark pain is indeed inappropriate. And we should patiently listen those who are hurting and endeavor to offer authentic, meaningful comfort and assistance.
Yet even as we consider the potential for shallowness—or even callousness—of the suggestion that things could be worse, those of us who know ourselves to be wretched sinners who live only by the grace of God must recognize that there is profound truth in that much-maligned platitude. Indeed, things could be worse. Much worse.
For insight into this, let us consider Jesus’ interaction with a crippled man in John 5:1-15. According to this eyewitness account, Jesus meets a man who has been crippled and bedridden for thirty-eight years. After a short exchange in which these details are made clear, Jesus heals the man instantaneously, simply telling the man to take up his bed and walk.
But another interesting dialogue follows. After Jesus and the once-crippled man have parted ways, they eventually meet again a short time later. And here is what Jesus has to say to this man:
“See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
– (John 5:14)
Now imagine for a moment that you were the man hearing this from Jesus after having just been healed of a thirty-eight year-long chronic illness. Chances are your first thought would be something like, “What?! Something worse? Does this guy understand how much I have suffered? I couldn’t get up from my bed for thirty-eight years! Other than death, I can’t really think of much worse than that.”
Well, the fact is that Jesus did indeed understand how much this man had suffered (see verse 6). And it was because of his great compassion for this man that Jesus healed him right then and there. Yet Jesus knew that there was a much worse kind of suffering awaiting this man if he continued in his sin. What Jesus alludes to here is made explicit elsewhere in Scripture:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
– (Romans 6:23)
From the apostle Paul’s statement here, we see that the supreme suffering Jesus refers to is God’s holy wrath which he rightly reserves for all sinners. This man’s thirty-eight years of suffering, though excruciating, were only a faint shadow of the eternal anguish to be experienced under the righteous anger of a holy God. And Jesus’ kind act of relieving this man of his thirty-eight year burden was a foreshadowing picture of God’s lavish kindness in sending a Savior to release guilty rebels from the power and penalty of their sin.
As for this man’s physical suffering—followed by his physical relief—these things are not minimized or overlooked. Both Jesus and the crippled man confront the reality of the condition. But this account is punctuated by Jesus’ wise observation that no worldly suffering is ultimate. There is always something worse—the just, unwavering, unrelenting, unimpeachable wrath of the Almighty God.
What should we take away from this? Among other things, a firm grasp on this can go a long way in helping us gain great perspective on our suffering. Even in the midst of the most bitter pain and heartbreak, those of us who repent and trust in Jesus can rejoice in knowing that God has mercifully spared us from the greatest tribulation of all—his own wrath. This immeasurably heavy burden he has placed on Jesus who died on the cross in our place and then rose from the grave to forever defeat sin.
Sure, we see and experience the brutal consequences of sin every day—sickness, war, famine, death. Yet because we hope in Jesus, the awesome reality for us is that his victory is our victory. As bitter and seemingly unbearable as things may become in this life, the pain we experience here is never ultimate. For those who belong to Jesus, the best is always yet to come.
So, Christian, let this be your hope: It could be much worse. You could be miserable in your pain, and even more miserable to consider that has no purpose, no meaning, and no possible relief. You could be lying awake at night, afraid to sleep because you fear what might await you if you don’t wake up. You could be filthy rich and lacking in no material thing, and yet perpetually unhappy as you yearn for peace and fulfillment that seems unattainable.
Yes, it could be much worse. But because of God’s abundant mercy, you have not seen the absolute worst. And you never will.
FREE INDEED 