Pain And Perseverance
Pain. How can such a simple word evoke such a plethora of emotions and meanings? Physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain, mental pain, sympathetic pain, if there is one universal emotion that all of humanity understands it is pain. Some might say love or selfishness but I believe pain is the one emotion that unites (and separates) humanity. No matter where you go in the world you will not find a people who do not fear pain. Even the tiny newborn understands pain. Perhaps even worse than pain is the fear of pain. Pain isn't always that bad but the fear and anxiety that comes before and with pain can be agonizing. Think of the lengths humanity has gone to avoid pain. How many modern inventions are centered around making life more comfortable? Humans as a species are obsessed with pain. Be it the entrepreneurs trying to eradicate pain, the cults obsessed with inflicting it, the writer attempting to explain it, or the oppressed seeking to escape it.
What is our response to pain? That's the true measure of a man isn't it? When it comes down to it, how do you react to pressure and pain? Some people cease to function. They buckle down like refugees during a storm and wait for the pain to subside. But the pain doesn't always go away. Some people are true American "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" kind of people. They get angry and fight through the pain. Oftentimes inflicting it on others in the process. Some people just sigh and say "I guess that's life." And live a hollow existence of depression. But then you meet those rare individuals who are, happy. Not just happy, but truly joyful. Even in the midst of great pain they still have a smile on their face and kind word on their tongue. Why?
The Bible says in Romans 5:
" Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
To paraphrase we boast in the hope that God gives us through His grace. Because we know that when we go through suffering we learn perseverance and perseverance builds character and character builds hope. And hope, especially hope in an eternal, loving God will not put us to shame. It is this hope that gives us joy. Joy that does not depend on circumstances or possessions or even people. Joy that comes from the knowledge that the Creator of the universe loves us and has a plan for us.
Think about the story of Job. (pronounced "Jobe") Was there ever a man who went through more pain than Job? To put the story of Job into my own words Job was an extremely rich man who had thousands of possessions and hundreds of servants. He also had seven sons and three daughters. In the course of one day everything Job had was taken away. His possessions were stolen and his children and servants were killed. Now of course Job was distressed. He was so upset he tore his clothes and shaved his head. Getting upset or mad or sad during pain is nothing to be ashamed of. It is human. The question is what do you do with those feelings. Job chose to do something contrary to what I think most of us would have done in his situation. He chose to praise and worship God. His actual words were:
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
How crazy is that? I don't know about you but had I been in His place I would probably have been really mad! The Bible says in the next verse:
"In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."
That alone would be amazing but the story doesn't end there. Next Job gets extremely sick. The Bible says he was covered by sores from head to toe and that he would sit in the ashes and scrape himself with a piece of pottery. At this point Job's own wife told him to curse God and die. And yet Job continued to praise and worship God saying:
"Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”
The Bible says in the next verse:
"In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
And yet still Job's trial continued. Next three of his friends come to him to comfort him. The Bible says that the three friends didn't recognize Job and that (to put it mildly) they were greatly distressed when they saw him. To sum up many chapters of discussion Job's friends tell him that the reason he is going through these trials is because he has been a sinful man. But, Job has been righteous. As job defends himself his friends become more and more angry with him and eventually tell him that he deserves worse than what has happened to him. After much more discussion and argument God appears as a whirlwind. He proceeds to question Job. God's speech really is magnificent but it's a little too long to fit in this blog post. I encourage you to read Job for yourself. To sum up God's speech God asks Job how he (Job) can, a mere man, understand the ways of God? No man can. God is far beyond our capability to understand or even comprehend. No one can understand why we all go through pain. All I know is this: God has a plan for every single person. And everything that happens in our lives has a reason behind it. Including pain. Especially pain.
Reader, I don't know what is going on in your life. I don't know what pain you're going through. But take comfort in the fact that there is a God who loves you. The only true God loves you. His name is Jesus and died on a cross so that you could be reconciled to God. If you don't know Jesus then I encourage you to get to know Him. I've known Him for 17 years and I still consider myself to be an infant in my faith. If you are interested in learning more about Jesus then leave a comment. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I know that God has gifted me with the joy that endures no matter what. In my next post I'll talk about the concept of salvation and the basics of becoming saved.
Reader, take comfort in the fact that God promises that He will one day end all pain. The Bible says in Revelation 21:
"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.”
What is our response to pain? That's the true measure of a man isn't it? When it comes down to it, how do you react to pressure and pain? Some people cease to function. They buckle down like refugees during a storm and wait for the pain to subside. But the pain doesn't always go away. Some people are true American "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" kind of people. They get angry and fight through the pain. Oftentimes inflicting it on others in the process. Some people just sigh and say "I guess that's life." And live a hollow existence of depression. But then you meet those rare individuals who are, happy. Not just happy, but truly joyful. Even in the midst of great pain they still have a smile on their face and kind word on their tongue. Why?
The Bible says in Romans 5:
" Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
To paraphrase we boast in the hope that God gives us through His grace. Because we know that when we go through suffering we learn perseverance and perseverance builds character and character builds hope. And hope, especially hope in an eternal, loving God will not put us to shame. It is this hope that gives us joy. Joy that does not depend on circumstances or possessions or even people. Joy that comes from the knowledge that the Creator of the universe loves us and has a plan for us.
Think about the story of Job. (pronounced "Jobe") Was there ever a man who went through more pain than Job? To put the story of Job into my own words Job was an extremely rich man who had thousands of possessions and hundreds of servants. He also had seven sons and three daughters. In the course of one day everything Job had was taken away. His possessions were stolen and his children and servants were killed. Now of course Job was distressed. He was so upset he tore his clothes and shaved his head. Getting upset or mad or sad during pain is nothing to be ashamed of. It is human. The question is what do you do with those feelings. Job chose to do something contrary to what I think most of us would have done in his situation. He chose to praise and worship God. His actual words were:
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
How crazy is that? I don't know about you but had I been in His place I would probably have been really mad! The Bible says in the next verse:
"In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."
That alone would be amazing but the story doesn't end there. Next Job gets extremely sick. The Bible says he was covered by sores from head to toe and that he would sit in the ashes and scrape himself with a piece of pottery. At this point Job's own wife told him to curse God and die. And yet Job continued to praise and worship God saying:
"Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”
The Bible says in the next verse:
"In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
And yet still Job's trial continued. Next three of his friends come to him to comfort him. The Bible says that the three friends didn't recognize Job and that (to put it mildly) they were greatly distressed when they saw him. To sum up many chapters of discussion Job's friends tell him that the reason he is going through these trials is because he has been a sinful man. But, Job has been righteous. As job defends himself his friends become more and more angry with him and eventually tell him that he deserves worse than what has happened to him. After much more discussion and argument God appears as a whirlwind. He proceeds to question Job. God's speech really is magnificent but it's a little too long to fit in this blog post. I encourage you to read Job for yourself. To sum up God's speech God asks Job how he (Job) can, a mere man, understand the ways of God? No man can. God is far beyond our capability to understand or even comprehend. No one can understand why we all go through pain. All I know is this: God has a plan for every single person. And everything that happens in our lives has a reason behind it. Including pain. Especially pain.
Reader, I don't know what is going on in your life. I don't know what pain you're going through. But take comfort in the fact that there is a God who loves you. The only true God loves you. His name is Jesus and died on a cross so that you could be reconciled to God. If you don't know Jesus then I encourage you to get to know Him. I've known Him for 17 years and I still consider myself to be an infant in my faith. If you are interested in learning more about Jesus then leave a comment. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I know that God has gifted me with the joy that endures no matter what. In my next post I'll talk about the concept of salvation and the basics of becoming saved.
Reader, take comfort in the fact that God promises that He will one day end all pain. The Bible says in Revelation 21:
"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.”
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