The more I reflect on the power of pain, the more I feel drawn to go deeper into the purpose of pain.
Let me first share that I don’t agree with the line of thinking that pain is punishment for wrongdoing (sin) in our lives.
Job’s so-called friends in the biblical account of his life certainly presents the argument that these men all felt Sin was the cause of his pitiful position in loss of family, health and wealth.
Yes, our actions may cause painful experiences, but I believe God’s purpose in allowing us to experience pain is much more complex.
Not long after reading and digesting Bruce Wilkinson’s extremely popular best-selling book The Prayer of Jabez nearly 25 years ago, I started praying my customized version of his now well-known prayer.
The first line of that daily prayer goes like this: “Lord, bless me beyond my expectations.” I was astonished to see how He ignited my life with unexpected blessings.
Those initial blessings were not what I had anticipated!
What I started experiencing seemed more like misfortune than blessings. Without going into great detail, it seemed as though I was facing one critical challenge after another.
First there was the loss of both patents within less than a year. Living nearly 2,000 miles away required numerous trips back to my hometown near San Antonio to handle their illnesses, their professional in-home care needs and, eventually, administering their estate.
Almost five years and more than a dozen trips later, I realize God had allowed me the opportunity to grow immensely spiritually.
Yes, those events were quite taxing, but extremely beneficial in drawing me closer to God.
A few years passed and then I seriously sensed God calling me to start writing my thoughts on life as a devoted follower of Christ.
The concept of Fourth Quarter Strategies was born out of this time of spiritual reflection.
That’s when the second line of that personalized Prayer of Jabez was slowly realized: “Expand my borders and my area of influence for Your glory Lord.”
These past seven years, perhaps to show me His grace in my life, God has allowed me to go through five separate procedures to first cure fairly aggressive prostate cancer and, most recently, eradicate several fairly advanced squamous cell carcinomas (cancers) from my body.
None of the procedures have been life threatening, but each has brought me closer to God. The pain experienced has brought immense joy as He walks with me through these profound valley experiences.
I often turn to Psalm 23, a Psalm of David, which I was required to memorize as a 10-year-old by my Sunday school teacher. Verse four speaks loudly to my lot:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Those words have comforted me even during the first 40 years of my life when I seldom thought about my Lord, yet His words were with me!
Let’s turn to Hebrews 12:11 and glean the words of the writer on pain and suffering:
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
I don’t consider pain to be at all problematic. To me, pain has brought God closer than I ever knew possible.
“No pain, no gain” — that’s the way I see it. At least in my life, pain certainly has a profound purpose.