I do not believe God intended or enjoys watching His children suffer. However, I’m sure you have heard the expression, “No pain, no gain.” It is the ripping and tearing of muscle that causes us to build muscle. Parents wrestle with the inner conflict of wanting to spare their children from pain, but all of us experience some pain. Pain is a fact of life that begins at birth in the delivery room.
Pain is not all bad. Pain provokes us to change. It is pain that reminds us to remove our hand from a hot stove. The pain from a fall encourages us to be more careful. The pain of a skinned knee teaches a toddler to try harder to walk. The pain of discipleship presses us into the Fathers will.
Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)
Thank God, one day, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes… There shall be no more pain.”
Practical Application and Assignments:
Pain is natures way of warning us that something is wrong or in need of repair. A need is an opportunity for a miracle. Every pain is a seed for a promise. Every tear is a seed for a miracle.
- Pay attention to pain. Discover the cause and seek help medically and spiritually. Prescribed or over the counter pain relievers can temporarily alleviate physical pain, but God is the only heart specialist who can heal the pain of a broken heart
- Go to the Word of God like a sick man goes to the doctor. The pain of a broken heart can poison the emotional system the same way infection spreads through the blood stream. “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
- Don’t rely on chemicals such as alcohol or addicting illegal drugs to escape pain. This kind of deceptive, superficial attempt will only lead to greater pain, depression, and ultimately, total destruction.
- Don’t waste your pain. Grow through it.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Romans 8:18.
