Suffering in Recovery (Part 2) - Four Benefits of Pain
November 4, 2019
When many first become Christians, they have the false impression that everything will now go well for them in every aspect of life. They believe all suffering will be eliminated and their lives will consist of rainbows, roses, and pots of gold. The Bible does have some promises of prosperity, but Jesus also promises we will suffer. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). Peter echoes this, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12). As does Paul, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). God does not promise you an easy life on this side of eternity, but He does promise He will be with you through it all and He will be enough regardless of your circumstances.
In part one of this series we began a conversation about pain and suffering. We looked at two types of pain all people experience, internal and external. In this article, we are going to look at four benefits of pain in the life of the believer.
1 - Intimacy
One of my mentors has said, “The Christian life is a series of mountain peaks and deep valleys. The mountain peaks are where you get to see God, but the valleys are where you get to know Him.” I’ve found this to be true throughout my Christian journey. When I am in the pit, I experience desperation for God and my intimacy with Him expands. Earthly pain is not opposed to joy in God, sometimes it’s actually a catalyst for more joy in Him. The Psalmist affirms this, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (34:18). God is drawn to suffering people. Rather than shaking your fist at Him because you’re in the valley, cling to Him and enjoy the richness of His sweet presence.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in Daniel 3, when three Hebrew boys get thrown in a fiery furnace because they refused to worship the golden statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. After heating the furnace seven times hotter and binding the three boys, the king was awestruck by what he saw. “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ He answered and said, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods’” (verses 24-25). They were not harmed because Jesus was in the fire with them. When you experience the fires of life, you can know that you are not alone, and Jesus is with you in the fire. You can have hope in pain because you will experience more intimacy with God as you cling to Him no matter what.
2 - Growth
The other incredible thing to point out about mountaintops and valleys is not much grows on top of a mountain, but the most fertile soil is typically in the deepest valleys. God will sometimes allow pain to come into our lives to plant new things that will give us more abundant life in the future. We get a picture of this in Jesus’ sermon to his disciples in John 15. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (verses 1-2). The painful process of pruning is not purposeless, but will lead to “more fruit” and growth in the future.
Another great illustration I’ve clung to in difficult times is the purification process of silver. It was often purified by being heated by fire until the impurities would rise to the top and removed by the silversmith. This process would be repeated until the silversmith could see his reflection in the shiny piece of metal. As the circumstances of life heat you up, God will use it to purify you and transform you into His image.
We see this in the story about the three Hebrew boys. When they were thrown into the fire they were enslaved in chains, but when they came out the chains were gone and they were free. Maybe God wants to use these hard circumstances to free you of lingering strongholds and grow you up in the faith.
3 - Purpose
A close pastor friend of mine, Davey Blackburn, left his house one morning for his normal CrossFit workout. Upon returning home, he found his pregnant wife lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head. It was a burglary gone wrong. She was rushed to the hospital and eventually passed away from the trauma.
Davey was distraught. Most people would use this as a reason to turn away from God, shaking their fists at Heaven, wondering how God could let this happen to His daughter, but Davey reacted differently. After many weeks and months of confusion, wrestling, and leaning into God for comfort, he felt compelled to use his pain to comfort others. Davey started a podcast which now reaches tens of thousands of people, wrote a book, and travels the world helping people find purpose in their pain.
Paul encourages us to do the same, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 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. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
God is the Master of taking awful circumstances and using them to help others. When the three Hebrews boys came out of the fire, King Nebuchadnezzar made a decree that the whole country would only worship the Hebrew boy’s God. God used a fiery trial to reach an entire nation.
Whatever your pain, God can use it to help others. Just as my past addiction is helping people recover and Davey’s loss is comforting thousands, your pain can have purpose too. Rather than playing the victim role, you can echo Joseph’s reaction to extreme pain, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
4 - Heaven
Maybe the most encouraging thing to focus on amidst pain and suffering is the reality of eternal life. “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). One fragment of a second in the presence of God is going to be worth decades of intense suffering. The sublime joy of Heaven is going to make every moment of suffering worth it.
We get a picture of what this will be like, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’” (Revelation 21:4-5a).
John goes into greater detail to show the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (22:1-5).
There is coming a Day when all sin, pain and sadness will be wiped away completely. Currently, “we don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us” (1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG)! If you are in Christ, you will live immersed in full intimacy with God for eternity. Fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore will be your reality forever. Because of this truth, we can have hope in the face of earthly suffering.
Our Example
The ultimate example of how to suffer well is Jesus. He was falsely accused, arrested, spit on, beaten to a bloody pulp, and eventually nailed to a piece of wood and brutally murdered. Knowing this was coming, he prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Just like you and I, Jesus didn’t want to suffer, but he submitted to the Father’s will, trusting He knows best. We can trust our Father even when we’d rather take the easier route.
Imagine if you’d never seen Star Wars before, but walked in a theater that was showing one of the nine marathon movies. You watched about twenty seconds and then wrote George Lucas a letter explaining all of the things that is wrong with the storyline. This is exactly what we do with God. Rather than trusting His eternal perspective we criticize what we see unfolding. Romans 8:28 promises, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” No matter what is going on in your life right now, you can trust that God is working it together for your good if you love Him and are living for Him. He is the best Director and His storyline is playing out perfectly.
Count It All Joy
The author of Hebrews gives us some more insight on how Jesus was able to endure. “For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus suffered momentarily because of future joy.
James encourages us to join Jesus in having this mindset towards suffering, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). Pain is a means to more joy because through it your faith and endurance is strengthened. It won’t be easy in the moment, but it is worth it!
Crap Creek
One of the most realistic pictures of what this looks like is a scene from the movie, Shawshank Redemption.
Andy Dufresne was falsely accused of murdering his wife and was serving a life sentence in Shawshank Prison. After many years of being beaten, raped, and mistreated, he’d had enough. He began to use a tiny pickaxe to chisel through the prison wall. Over the course of many years, he finally reached a sewage pipe. In the middle of one stormy night as thunder cracks filled the prison, he climbed through the wall and used a sharp rock to punch a hole in the sewage pipe and squeezed inside of the foulest place anyone has ever been. He barely fit like a man in a straightjacket. Throughout the night, he crawled through 500 yards of inmate excrement, puking every few feet.
After hours of trudging through crap creek, he reached the end. He fell out of the end of the pipe into a river. Freedom! As the pouring rain washed him clean, he looked up into the sky with his hands raised in complete ecstasy. It was worth it.
The Choice
When you face hard times, both internally and externally, you have a choice. You can either run back to the needle, bottle, or pipe, to numb your pain for a minute or you can fight to keep your eyes on Jesus. Running to your old lover will satisfy for a moment, but end in more pain and destruction. Running to God will increase you intimacy, grow you spiritually, give you massive purpose, and fill you with hope for eternal joy in Heaven. Following Jesus is not easy, but it’s worth it.
ACTION:
Based on what we’ve discussed, how can you cultivate more intimacy with Jesus during hard times?
How could you use your pain to help someone else today or in the near future?
Is there anything in your life that you are not following God’s will because you think you know better? How can you surrender that to Him today?