Life is hard. 2020 has been hard. Pain and trials are not God’s idea. They are the result of living in a fallen, sinful world, but while God isn’t causing our painful circumstances, because He loves us and because He can do anything, God can (and will) take the painful moments of our lives and make them purposeful so that we can still rejoice and so that we can give voice to the difference that knowing Jesus makes. Pain without purpose would be a cruel existence, but our God can redeem anything, even the worst of situations. And what God redeems is valuable. Pain can be valuable. In the hands of God, it can become an asset to us. The pains we endure become valuable when we hand them over to a God who knows how to recreate, who knows how to reconstruct, who knows how to revamp our pain into purpose to fit His purposes for our lives.
I’ve identified some benefits of pain, some ways we can find purpose in pain.
- Pain helps us acquire and show empathy for others. When we say to someone, “I feel your pain,” we are saying, “I have been where you are to some degree, and I understand what you are going through.” When we express empathy for other people, God can remove a sense of loneliness from their struggle.
Paul had this to say on the subject, II Corinthians 1:3-4- 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Those of us who have Christ on board during painful times are the most blessed because we have resources in Jesus that enable us to be comforted in a supernatural way. There are many without Christ who don’t have the Words of Scripture to steady their hearts. They don’t have the hope of Heaven to calm their anxious spirits. They don’t have the mechanism of prayer whereby the Holy Spirit whispers, “You are going to make it.” They don’t have a church family to rally around them when extra support is needed. They don’t have the songs of faith to play on loop in their thoughts. But you, believer, you who receive the help from God that is needed to get through your trial can not only relate on a human and heart level with those who are hurting, but you will have a testimony about how God has helped you through that can point other people to Him. Any time we can empathically help a person in pain find the arms of Jesus, our personal pain has served a wonderful purpose.
- Pain helps us experience the grace and power of God.
God knew that the Apostle Paul had many reasons to feel pretty good about himself. He had risen in the ranks of Judaism. He was a learned scholar. He was a gifted communicator. He was a self-starter. He was driven. He obviously had influence. He saw results from all of his efforts.
In order to remind Paul just Who had enabled Paul’s effectiveness, God permitted something in Paul’s life, some kind of pain, some kind of hardship, some kind of weakness, to keep Paul focused on allowing God to work in him so that God could continue to accomplish greater and greater things in Paul’s life. The miracles God worked through Him, the messages God gave Him, the churches that were founded through His efforts, were all possible because Paul experienced God’s grace at the highest level through a pain that God permitted in His life.
Look at II Corinthians 12:7-10 from the Message Translation about Paul’s experience: 7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first, I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. (Paul saw the pain as a gift!) It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
Paul experienced incredible spiritual and personal success because he encountered the greatest grace and power which came as a result of a pain in his life. This text seems to indicate that one way the power of God is received is in and through our pain.
- Pain fosters spiritual growth.
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, (REALLY? IS HE OUT OF HIS MIND?) my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Apparently, we grow spiritually, perhaps exponentially, when we walk through trials. Yes, trials with an “S.” Plural. James said to be glad when everything hits at once. Rejoice when you have many pains and pressures at the same time. Do you think he was referring to 2020? One trial at a time, Lord, please. James says, “Be glad when multiple pains come your way because your faith will be tested and as it is tested it will produce perseverance.” This is one of the purposes of pain, to grow up our faith. Evidently pain will grow in our faith in ways that the absence of pain cannot. James tells us there is a maturing of our faith, a wholeness a completeness that results when we look to God in our times of trouble and heartache.
Finally, I want to suggest a fourth purpose for pain by asking a question.
- What if a purpose of your pain was to reveal some purpose God has for your life?
What if pain comes packaged as preparation for where God is leading us in the future? What if the pain we suffer gives us a new direction, a God-direction? What if pain becomes a sign to show us something new God wants to do in our lives?
Are you suffering deep pain right now? Have you wondered why God has allowed it? Have you submitted it to God? Have you asked God to redeem it? Have you requested that He make you more sensitive to the needs of others? Have you asked to experience God’s grace and power in fullness? Have you called on Him to help you grow? Have you petitioned Him to reveal the purpose He might be leading you to, a purpose that can only be achieved by first walking through some pain?
Perhaps we haven’t appreciated the moments of difficulty and challenge correctly. Maybe we haven’t viewed the pains of life as an opportunity to develop, to grow, and to actually become the steppingstones to a greater perspective and greater life effectiveness. If you go through pain without inviting God into it, you won’t receive any of the benefits pain could produce in your life. Don’t waste your pain. Give purpose to your pain by allowing God to be in charge, by receiving His comfort to comfort others, by receiving His grace and power to do greater things, by becoming spiritually mature in order to have a spirit of perseverance and by looking for the new thing He is actually wanting to prepare you to accomplish. Let’s move from pain to purpose for the purposes of God.
