God’s View of Abuse
If you believe in God or have a faith you may well wonder where God is in all this.

How can God allow so much pain and suffering to happen to innocent children?

It’s a good question and there are no easy answers.

We can see in the Bible there are scriptures that God takes a very serious view of abuse. This is not always the case with religious organisations. We can read in the media of some highly publicised incidents where religious leaders in authority have colluded with and even perpetrated abuse.

Biblically, however, the punishments for abusers are very severe:
“If he were thrown into the sea with a huge rock tied to his neck he would be far better off than facing the punishment in store for those who harm these little children”
Luke 17 v2-3 (The Living Bible).

It is not just a case of minor church discipline but we can see God is actually saying that drowning is more preferable that facing God’s judgement for abusers. God treats abuse as a very serious offence because He knows the damage it causes for those who have been abused.

God’s Desire Is To Heal Deeply
In the Old Testament Isaiah 1 v 6 God speaks about “wounds, bruises and open sores not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.” And in Jeremiah 6 v 14 He says “they dress the wound of my people as if it were not serious.”. God wants to heal deeply and bring about full restoration not just a superficial cover up. Again this is often not the case with some spiritual teaching which is often silent around the pain of abuse - or victims are encouraged not to talk about it.

Isn’t It All Behind Me?
Many Christians feel or may have been told that the pain of their past was dealt with at the cross and therefore they should not have to work through any issues. There is a verse which is often used to back this argument up in Philippians:
“Forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead.” (Philippians 3 v 13). Whilst to an extent this is true – everything was done for us at the cross spiritually – but just as maturity in faith requires time and effort so does recovery from our past. Time alone does not heal.

Also, this verse does not mean we obliterate our memory. Paul is in fact recalling traumatic events from his own past, and re-evaluating them in the light of his deepening relationship with God.

Paul’s prescription for peace is making his feelings and anxieties known to God, rather than not thinking about them at all. (Philippians 4 v 6). If you are suffering the pain of abuse – you need to express that pain and make it known to God – and often to other people and not hide it. Which incidentally, is also encouraged in the scriptures “O God I cry out by day … and night, and am not silent” (Psalm 13 v 2).

God And Anger
The scriptures in the New Testament do not just permit anger but on occasions actually demand it –
“Be angry but do not sin” (Ephesians 4 v26). In Britain especially we rarely allow our anger to be exposed – in other cultures anger much is more freely expressed.

In the New Testament Romans 12 v 9 tells us “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling onto what is good.” God is angry about all abuse. Yet He is often portrayed as a God who doesn’t rarely care about justice or want to be involved in people’s most devastating pain. If you are angry about being abused this is a wholly appropriate response – and a Godly one.

However, we often struggle with expressing anger in spiritual communities and yet Job in his devastating circumstances was not afraid to speak out: “Therefore I will not keep silent - I will speak of the anguish of my spirit I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” (Job 7 v11.) Expressing anger about abuse to supportive people – and God - is one of the first steps towards a real and deep healing and is to be encouraged.

Forgiving God
For so many people it is difficult to even admit and acknowledge their anger against God, who has allowed such an event to happen to them. But God is more than able to handle anger against Him. Being honest with God and being angry with Him is the step towards a real deeper relationship and will bring Him more closely into your situation. From anger we can then move on, at a time that is right, to forgive Him for allowing the abuse to happen.

But this is also balanced with the understanding that God himself does not perpetrate or condone abuse – but we can come to a place where we accept what has been allowed.

Does God Care?
In his book “Where is God When It Hurts” Philip Yancey looks at how personal suffering alienates or draws people into relationship with God. One such example is Christian Reger who spent four years in the Nazi Concentration Camp – Dachau. Like many prisoners, in the first month of the camp he abandoned all belief in a loving God.

However, although God did not save him from the atrocities he saw and experienced Reger began to see that God had not left him. He says “God did not rescue me or make my suffering easier. He simply proved to me that He was still alive, and He still knew I was here … I can only speak for myself. Others turned from God because of Dachau. Who am I to judge them? I simply know that God met me. For me, He was enough, even at Dachau.”*

For many people the experience of sexual abuse is more than enough evidence that God does not exist or cannot care. But, if like Christian Reger, despite or perhaps even because of our suffering, we can be open to God being with us in our darkest moments – the pain may be just as real but it is not so isolating and hopeless.

Things to think about:

*Where Is God When It Hurts – By Philip Yancey Published by Zondervan Press