Gain in the Pain
In High School, I remember our school’s wrestling team having t-shirts that read “No pain, no gain!” That common expression often motivates people to purposeful physical pain for the purpose of self-improvement. But what about pain that is unwanted, unwelcome, or unfading? Is there gain in that? God has a lot to say about suffering, here are a few of His truths for our seasons of pain:
Seek God First In Painful Situations. When a child hurts them self, their instinctive reaction is to cry for the presence and comforting help of their parents. When we encounter pain sometimes we fail to take that important first step. The next time you get hurt, cry to Jesus for His presence and powerful aid to heal you. Sometimes the pain in life pushes us closer to our wonderful Savior.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
Self-Evaluate when Suffering. Sometimes our suffering is due to our own sinful decisions and choices. We must take responsibility for our sinful actions & inactions, confessing it to God and turning away from it into the future. God often brings suffering as a form of discipline to His children or as a form of just punishment to those living independent of God.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent Revelation 3:19
See the Good that Comes through Difficulty. Much suffering in life is unwanted and due to living in a fallen world, surround by sinful people. Remember the expression, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?” Some of the most difficult seasons of life can bear the most fruit in our character. For many of us, we were greatly shaped by unexpected trauma or ongoing struggles as we grew up. When God allows or gives us seasons of suffering we should ask Jesus what He is trying to teach us or grow in us.
Look Forward Beyond the Suffering. Earthly healing and pain-relief is not God’s will for all of us. Ultimately, in Christ we should long for His eternal, complete healing when we receive our heavenly bodies and live in the presence of Jesus forever. In a race, runners must move beyond the pain with the goal of reaching the finish line. When we struggle, we must push forward through the pain towards the eternal gain of Jesus in Heaven forever.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13–14
Use Your Pain Purposefully. Sometimes the Lord allows us the privilege of suffering for His greater purposes. We should ask God, “how do you want me to use this suffering to honor you name”? Our life isn’t designed to be all about us. Likewise, our suffering isn’t designed to be about us. Our suffering is designed to point others to Jesus. So as we suffer and are comforted by God, may we find ways to share our Christian hope with others.
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:4
Thank God for the Pain. What?!?! This doesn’t seem like a good way to respond to pain. It sounds like an invitation for more suffering. But we when rightly see all the good that God can do in suffering, we should rejoice and be thankful for the gain God gives us in our pain.