What Good can Come from My Pain?

“So that I would not become too proud of the wonderful things that were shown to me, a painful physical problem was given to me. This problem was a messenger from Satan, sent to beat me and keep me from being too proud. I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.’ So, I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can live in me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

Experiencing pain is uncomfortable and no one wants to feel it. Unfortunately, pain is a feeling everyone will experience but in different ways. For Paul, he experienced a lot of pain during his ministry (Acts 21:33, 21:30-31, 27:41). An important thing that he understood about the pain was God allowed him to experience it for his benefit. Other people in the Bible experienced pain due to sin or as a punishment. One man who suffered for no apparent reason mentioned in scripture was Job. God never mentioned why He let Job suffer, He just responded to him by saying:

“Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off how big it should be? Surely you know! Who stretched a ruler across it? What were the earth’s foundations set on, or who put its cornerstone in place while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted with joy?” – Job 38:4-7

We can only conclude in Job’s case that God is God and whatever He allows to happen in anyone’s life, there is no way they can fully understand it (Isaiah 55:8-9). We can view our pain by looking at God’s use for it in the Bible. God allowed Paul to experience pain to keep him humble. During Paul’s trials God used it to make His power perfect in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). He suffered great pain and during the pain he became so weak and helpless that he had no choice but to turn to God for help and strength. Even Jesus prayed to God for help and strength before He was arrested, whipped, and crucified (Luke 22:42-43).

We can look at our painful situations as a “good” thing since God “works for the good of those who love Him. They are the people He called, because that was His plan” (Romans 8:28).

Prayer of the day:

Dear heavenly Father,

Your ways are higher than ours. It shows in how You allow pain in our lives. We see in scripture that the pain we experience is a way You build character in us. It helps us to stay humble and to build our trust in You during our difficult situations. Thank you for Your power and with it we can be conquers with the King! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!