Articles
“Pain's Worth”
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
What do we do with our pain? Where do we go when we hurt? When struggling through some difficulty, we are tempted to isolate ourselves because we don’t feel like worshiping God (he seems so distant) and we don’t feel like being around others (they just don’t understand). Self isolation is a common response to pain but far from from healing us it only deepens the wounds. If, by faith, we move closer to God and his people in worship we will find a spiritual arena in which our pain can be worked out and dealt with in a constructive way. By struggling in worship, our pain can actually help us see ourselves, our God and our mission more clearly.
When we turn our hearts and minds to the cross of Christ, beholding his agony as he suffered on that bitter tree, seeing his anguish and faith and triumphant love, we learn the worth of pain.
Pain helps us to see ourselves more clearly — When we work out our suffering in the context of worship, we will read in Scripture of others suffering just like us. The Bible reminds us that pain is a universal experience. This doesn’t remove the hurt but it mitigates our sense of loneliness. Our pain also heightens our awareness of our fragility. Our physical lives are like a mist that appears for a little while before vanishing. Our pain makes us confront our mortality which, in turn, helps us to see that our greatest need is spiritual. Our outer man is wasting away. No advances in medicine or technology can stop that or keep us from suffering. This fact should cause us to give urgent attention to the inner person of the spirit which will live on after our physical bodies succumb.
Pain helps us to see our God more clearly — Sometimes, we feel like God is distant and emotionally detached when we suffer. But this couldn’t be further from the truth (Isa. 63:9). Any discussion of human pain must eventually lead us to the cross. God already knew the pain of a Creator for his ruined creation (Gen. 6:5-6), the pain of a Husband for his faithless wife (Hos. 2-3) and the pain of a Father for his rebellious son (Hos. 11:1-4). But when he put on flesh (Jn. 1:1, 14), he shared in our suffering personally (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15). But Christ’s pain was also unique: his was the pain of a Savior dying for the sins of the world (Isa. 53:3-6; 1 Pet. 3:18). The only way God could deliver us from our suffering was to bear it himself. When we bring our pain to the foot of the cross we see a gracious, compassionate and triumphant God worth trusting in.
Pain helps us to see our mission more clearly — One of the wonderful things about being a Christian is learning how to process our pain. In Christ, our pain fits into a story that makes sense. We see the origins of suffering in the Garden of Eden and anticipate the end of suffering in the New Jerusalem. We learn that our pain is temporary and, if we endure it by faith, can actually produce within us a depth of beauty and character otherwise impossible (1 Pet. 1:3-9). Peter says that Jesus suffered for us, leaving us an example to follow (1 Pet. 2:21-23). How did Jesus suffer?
- Jesus suffered innocently (1 Pet. 2:22), doing no wrong.
- Jesus suffered peacefully (1 Pet. 2:23a), without retaliation.
- Jesus suffered faithfully (1 Pet. 2:23b), trusting in God.
When we follow Jesus’ example in suffering it helps us see our mission more clearly. We can use pain as an opportunity to point others to salvation in Christ. God comforts us in our affliction so that we may comfort others in theirs (2 Cor. 1:3-11).
We can’t avoid all suffering in life but we can learn its worth and even learn to rejoice in it (Rom. 5:1-5). Pain helps us see ourselves, our God and our mission more clearly.
