God's Purpose In Your Pain

The idea that the pain we experience in life has a purpose behind it is a foreign one to most of us.  Most of the time pain and hard things just seem to come out of nowhere for no apparent reason.  But this is not what the Bible says about the hard things we experience.  Instead, when we suffer and go through trials it is always for a purpose.  It’s not just a result of bad luck or unfortunate happenstance, but rather the divine plan of God for your good.  God has a purpose in your pain.  James 1.1-4 tells us four purposes that God is working out when we go through something difficult. 

1. To test your faith (James 1.3)
When God sends divinely appointed trials your way, one of the reasons he does so is to test your faith.  But let’s be clear: this is not for the purpose of testing you for the sake of testing you, or to see how you do and then give you a grade and ridicule you if you fail.  Instead, the kind of testing of our faith that God does is intended to grow us in our faith.

Do you recall when Abraham took his son Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah? (Genesis 22)  There God instructed him to sacrifice his only son – the son that God had promised him decades before.  But then, of course, as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, God says, “Stop” and he provides a ram to be sacrificed in the place of Isaac.  This was a test of faith – and this test gave Abraham a completely new appreciation for God as provider, and a new understanding of God’s faithfulness to his promises.  But it took Abraham coming to the brink of sacrificing his son on Mount Moriah for him to come to that understanding.   Do you think that was hard?  Do you think that was a trial?  Absolutely.  But that trial – that test of faith – was divinely designed by God to increase Abraham’s faith.

Or, think of Job.  Satan says to God, “I bet I can get Job to curse you,” and God says, “OK, how about a test?”  And so he gives Satan the authority to take away Job’s livestock – his wealth – his children, and even his physical health.  And Job goes through immense physical and emotional and spiritual torment.   By the time Job gets through this test he says to God, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42.5)  In other words, through this trial I have come to know you in a whole new way that I would not have known you had I not experienced this difficulty.

God tests our faith not to put us through the wringer unnecessarily, but to grow us.  Growth mostly comes through times of testing – it mostly comes when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  Because when you are at your lowest you will find that God is at his strongest.  So God’s purpose in your pain by testing your faith is not to test you for the sake of testing you, but to help you to grow.

2. To produce steadfastness in you (James 1.3)
In the trials that we face, one of his main purposes is to produce in us steadfastness.  The Greek word translated “steadfastness” can also be understood as perseverance or endurance – being made strong to stand against the coming onslaught, and to outlast it.  One of God’s purposes in our pain is to build up in us this kind of steadfastness, this perseverance in the midst of life’s trials.

Now why is that important?  Why does God want to produce steadfastness in us?  The answer is because we don’t live the Christian life in a vacuum.  We live it in a world where horrible tragedies happen, and where people contract illnesses and diseases that disfigure or scar their physical bodies.  We live in a world where accidents happen.  In other words, we live in a world of never-ending trials.  It’s not as though, when you experience one trial or difficulty, that you’ve met your quota for your lifetime, and you get some time off from another trial.  No, there’s another trial waiting for you, just around the corner.  The question is, now that you have made it through this trial, what are you going to do to get through that trial?

And so, God gives us tests of faith to build us up so we can endure the next test, because it is coming, because we live in a sinful world where bad things happen.  By giving us trials and tests of faith, God is preparing us for what lies ahead.  He is producing in us steadfastness.

But it’s not just steadfastness, but a steadfastness of hope.  The kind of strength God gives to us not only gets us through this current difficulty and gets us ready for the next one, but it changes our thinking.  As we look back on our lives and the trials we’ve experienced, our worldview changes because we know that God has been with us in the past, and he will be with us in the future.  I have hope for this trial, and the next one, and the next one, because God is a God who goes into the valley of the shadow of death with his people.

3. To make you more like Jesus (James 1.4)
James says that as we go through difficulties and grow in steadfastness, we will become “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  What he means by that is we will become more like God.  God is perfect and complete in himself – he lacks nothing.  James says that when you go through a trial, that’s the goal – that’s what God is working toward: to make you more perfect and more complete so that you will lack in nothing.  Or in other words, to make you more like Jesus.  

Sometimes this is the only encouragement I can give as a pastor to people who are suffering: if nothing else, realize that if you trust God through this incredibly hard thing, you will come out on the other side of it looking more and more like Jesus.  I’ve sat with people, and they’ve told me what’s going on in their lives, and many times it’s tragic and unfair and there’s nothing to be done.  At those times, the only counsel I can offer is this: “Trust God through this trial, and you’ll come out looking more like Jesus.”

And really, that should be enough for us.  If that’s all you get out of your trial and your test of faith, that’s enough.  If you aren’t vindicated, but you look more like Jesus, that’s a good trade off.  If you are falsely accused of something and your reputation suffers, but it makes you more like Jesus, that’s a good tradeoff.  It’s better for you to look like Jesus than it is for you to have an untarnished name and reputation.  If you go through a prolonged period of suffering, and you come out of it sick and frail, but you look more like Jesus, that’s a good tradeoff.  It’s better to look like Jesus than to have a strong and healthy body.  God is working in your difficulties to make you more perfect and complete – more like Jesus.

4. To bring you joy (James 1.2)
James says that through all this, our trials will actually lead to our joy.  It doesn’t mean you’re necessarily happy while you go through something hard, but the reality that suffering makes you more and more like Jesus should certainly give you a confidence and a hope when things are difficult.  This hard thing is making you more like Jesus, and that’s something to get excited about.

For this reason, we should not despise trials and suffering in our lives – God is working in them.  Does that mean you have to like it when you go through something hard?  No, but it should give you a hopeful perspective on whatever you’re going through.  So bring it on, Lord; bring on the suffering; bring on the trials.  And with the trials, bring on your strength.  And as I lean into you, make me more and more like Jesus.  That is what I want.  That will lead to my joy. 

When we go through trials and difficulties, our natural inclination is to get out of it as fast as possible.  We want to end the pain, take a drug, self-medicate, avoid the problem, or whatever in order to make the hardship go away – end the pain as fast as possible.  But if God truly is working in our trials, perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to get out of them.  Perhaps it would be better to just sit with the pain a while and feel it vividly, and ask God what he might be trying to teach you.  Think about how this pain can lead you to steadfastness.  Think about how it can make you more like Jesus.

God has a purpose in your pain, and he is constantly at work to bring it about for your good.

When Christmas Hurts

Everything in our culture tells us that Christmas is a joyful season: friends, family, food, and gifts all encourage us to celebrate Christmas.  But for many people, the Christmas season can be a painful reminder of the difficulties of life.  Many people will celebrate this Christmas for the first time without a spouse or a loved one that has died.  Some people will celebrate this Christmas for the first time without their spouse, due to a divorce.  For others Christmas can be a painful reminder of financial hardships.  Ironically, it is often during those times when we are supposed to be happy and joyful that our suffering and pain can be felt most vividly.  

Christmas in a Broken World
It can be hard to have a "merry Christmas" because the reality is that we live in a world that has been utterly damaged and broken by sin.  When Adam and Eve fell into sin, the world fell with them (Genesis 3.17-19).  Before sin entered the world, there were no thorns; now that sin is here, there are thorns a plenty.  Before the world fell, work and labor were easy and joyful things; now they are toilsome and difficult and painful.  Before the world fell, human beings enjoyed a perfect relationship with God; now we are separated from him.  Before the world fell there was no disease and no accidents; but now that the world is marred by sin there is suffering.  When we look around and see the pain and suffering of the world, and we wonder, "Why?" the Bible gives us a very good explanation: because we live in a sinful fallen world, filled with sinful fallen people, who do sinful fallen things.  If we trace it back far enough, sin is the root cause of all of our problems and difficulties.

For this reason, times and seasons that should be merry and joyful, aren't.  When we experience the sadness of a first Christmas without a loved one who has died, we are getting a very real taste of the effects of sin.  And the fact that we live in a broken, fallen world can make even joyful occasions bitter.  The Apostle Paul calls these effects of sin that we experience our "sufferings of this present time."  He says that the world has been "subjected to futility," and that it is in "bondage to corruption" (Romans 8.18-21).  Because we live in this kind of world, we taste death and pain and suffering, and happy times - like Christmas - can hurt. 

Responding to Christmas Pain with Gospel Hope
Although we live in such a world where suffering exists because of sin, Paul says that is no reason to lose hope.  There is coming a day when all things will be made new - the earth and the bodies of those who are trusting in Christ will be restored to their condition before sin entered the world.  There is coming a day when all things will be made new, and there will be no more pain, no more death, and no more suffering.  Imagine a world where there is no suffering to due accidents or severe weather; a world where the doctor will never call with bad news about a suspicious lump or a dark spot on the X-ray.  This world is coming, and it will be so glorious that all of the effects of sin under which we suffer in this world won't even be worth remembering (Romans 8.18).  

But we aren't there yet.  So until that day comes, we wait for it with eager longing.  And because we are still here, and because the world hasn't been restored yet, we still feel pain, we still suffer, and we still cry our way through the holidays, missing a loved one or mourning a broken relationship.  But because of the hope that we have, Paul says that our attitude as Christians - even and especially when we are living in a world where we suffer from the effects of sin - should be one of expectant hope (Romans 8.24-25).  We should view our suffering under the effects of sin through this lens: that there is a glorious rebuilding of the earth and redemption of our bodies in the near future.  Let us suffer well in light of this hope.  

Although we live in a world that has been damaged by sin, God foresaw our need and enacted a plan for the restoration of the world right after Adam and Eve fell into sin.  God said that there would be One who would come - a descendant of the woman (Eve) - who would restore all things to perfection.  This One would come into the world and suffer the same ways that we do.  He would feel the effects of living in a sinful world.  He would be bruised.  But in so doing, he would likewise crush the effects of sin (Genesis 3.15).  Through his bruising he would crush sin; he would crush death; he would crush suffering; he would crush pain and sadness.  All of this Jesus accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection.  The effects of sin have been crushed, and now we await the day when all things will be set right again.  Because of him, there is coming a glory that will soon be revealed, to which the sufferings of this present time cannot be compared.

However, that time has not yet come.  We are still in waiting; we are still groaning; we are still suffering.  We are still enduring the holidays without a loved one or in a broken marriage.  But take heart in this: God has set a plan in motion to restore the world and redeem the bodies of those who are trusting in Jesus, and it's only a matter of time until that plan comes to fruition.  Until we reach that day, remember that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.   At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus came into the world as a man in order to crush the effects of sin in our lives.  They no longer leave us hopeless and full of despair, but instead that hopelessness is replaced by an expectant hope for the revealing of the glory of God.  This is the hope of the Christmas season, even when Christmas hurts.  

Should Christians Use Medicine?

Over the past few years I've become increasingly convicted that we as a society too quickly look for a quick fix when we undergo physical difficulties.  For example, there's a medicine or surgery that will prevent or fix just about anything out there, and it seems that people are ready and willing to receive everything a doctor says as gospel truth.  But are we missing something when we run to medical science to cure or treat something?

I've been convicted in that, while I don't believe medicine and medical science are inherently bad things, they can be used unwisely and even sinfully.  Our society - Christians included - seem to have forgotten that God is sovereign over illness and suffering.  So rather than attempt to discern God's purposes in an ailment, disability, or time of affliction, we instead just run to the cure as fast as possible.  We hurt, and our sole focus is to alleviate our suffering.  While we may feel better physically by taking medication or receiving treatment, relieving our suffering so easily and adequately may not be what's best for us spiritually.

This morning I saw this video posted on the Desiring God blog.  It's just a short treatment of some of the ramification of being dependent on medicine.  There is certainly quite a bit more that could be said on the topic, but this is an interesting place to start for those who have never considered the ramifications of living in a society that has prescription drugs on demand.  The video focuses on the topic of treating depression through drugs, but the principle is applicable to all ailments (for example, Ed Welch rightly says that depression, as well as cancer - and I would add any ailment - are spiritual issues).  Take a look.

Battling Depression ... Redemption, Medication, and Christ (CCEF; Ed Welch) from Desiring God on Vimeo.

I Stood a Mendicant of God

I posted a few weeks ago about Steve Saint and his bad accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.  He has since undergone surgery to relieve the pressure on his spinal cord and the paralysis has somewhat abated.  Here you can see how he has begun to regain some of his movement and strength in his limbs.

I've also talked on this blog about how much I appreciate Steve Saint and his insatiable appetite to be an innovator for the mission field.  The guy comes up with new inventions that help missionaries preach the gospel and do what they need to do on the mission field.  We need more guys like Steve Saint holding the rope for those going down into the well.  Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that Steve is not just holding the rope, but he's making a better rope.

Here's the latest update on Steve's recovery from his accident, produced by his company, I-tec.  This man's resolve and attitude throughout this process is inspiring and encouraging.  Rather than lamenting, or even learning to adapt to his new condition (let's face it: his life is forever changed; he's a 60+ year old guy who sustained a spinal cord injury - he won't ever be the same or be able to do those things he had done before the accident), he is instead looking for what God is doing in him through this accident. As you can see in the video, he's discovering things about himself and about God that he would have never known had he not been injured.  In a sense, the injury has been a blessing to him. Watch this video.  It's worth your six minutes.



The poem that Steve recites is as follows:

I stood, a mendicant of God, before his royal throne

and begged him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.

I took the gift from out his hand, but as I would depart I cried, 

'But Lord, this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart. 

This is a strange and hurtful gift which thou hast given me.' 

He said, 'My child, I give good gifts. I gave my best to thee.' 

I took it home, and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore, 

As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more. 

I learned he never gives a thorn without this added grace:  

He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides his face.