The Purpose in Pain...

May 8, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, "I am strong!" Joel 3:10.

Part of the struggle in learning to Praise God through the bad times is understanding why something bad is happening to you. Often our afflictions are a consequence of our sin and the battle going on inside of us between our enemy, our flesh, and God’s will.

And other times, people will still ask, “Is God doing this to me?” The answer to that question can harm your faith, unless you understand whether it is God, and if it is then why.

First know that all good things come from God. “When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:13-18.

God has your best interests at heart, and if you are suffering an affliction and you are wondering why He is not stopping it, you need to learn to look beyond your own pain to see what lesson He is trying to teach you.

Second, know any lesson He is teaching you is out of love.

1) He will let you bear the consequence of your sin: God will let us bear the consequence of our sin because He can see the entire picture for all of eternity and He knows what pain sin can cause you, so He will correct you by letting you feel the consequence with a gentle message, “Don’t do it again.”

2) He will use your bad times to grow others faith. God will also allow your affliction to strengthen the faith of others. When Jesus was called upon to save Lazarus, he explained it to His disciples. “So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." John 11:14-15. Note that He told His disciples that He was glad He was not there when Lazarus died (even though He intended to raise Him from the dead later) because that way they would “believe”. Even though He could have saved Lazarus before He died, He did not want to be there at that time because He wanted to grow His disciples’ faith by them watching Him raise Lazarus from the dead.

When Jesus went to Lazarus, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha were upset at the loss of their brother. When Martha saw Jesus, she approached Him. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." John 11:21-27. Jesus was testing Martha’s faith and asked her whether or not she believed.

“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept.” John 11:32-35. Even though Jesus knew He was going to bring Lazarus back to life, He still hurt for His friends, and that is why He cried. Likewise, He cries for you when you are suffering affliction to test your faith. Even though He knows the outcome, He still hurts when you do.

When Jesus came to the tomb, he saw a stone covering the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." John 11:39-44.

Jesus thanked His Father in Heaven, and said that He said this aloud for the benefit of the people standing there, that they would believe God sent Jesus, and then He raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus died, but his death was used to strengthen those around him.

3) He will use your bad time to show others that He is God. Another miracle performed by Jesus, the healing of a blind man demonstrates this. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9:1-5.

Like most of us, people thought that if the man was blind then he must have done something wrong, or that his parents did. But Jesus stated that neither the blind man nor his parents sinned, but that “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life”.
Suffering affliction doesn’t mean you did something wrong, and God is not punishing you with such a horrible thing, but He will use it to strengthen you and those around you in their faith. “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men." Lamentations 3:31-33.

God has a purpose for everything He does. And He can see the entire future, and what you will need to survive way beyond today. “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11.

Ask Him to show you His purpose behind your affliction. He wants you to learn, and instead of blaming Him, He wants you to ask Him the meaning behind it. When you ask Him that, you are showing you love Him and that you know He loves you and is preparing you for something greater. “'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'” Jeremiah 33:3.

And wait for His answer knowing that He loves you. “Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:22-24.

Seek Him, ask Him, trust Him, and wait for His answer even in the bad times, no matter how long it takes. Remain obedient to Him in those bad times and do not give up. Then He knows your love is unconditional for Him, just as His love is always unconditional for you. “Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God." Jeremiah 42:6.