The Gain of Pain?
- Jay S. Lowder
- Jun 19
- 5 min read
Getting Closer through Challenging Circumstances!
You see it on t-shirts, hear it from athletes, and read it on gym walls: "No pain, no gain." Hmmm... is that true? Like many slogans, that is partially true under the right circumstances. Can pain improve your devotional life? Yes, assuming you respond rightly. Let’s dig into that!
First, we need to admit the obvious opposite. Too often, pain can push believers off the path of progress. Life got too hard, and so apparently did going to church. What a messed-up conclusion, but you hear this from others too often! Worse yet, hard circumstances can make believers bitter. Instead of patiently waiting for God to answer the "why" questions, or better yet, trusting that God has an answer but may not share it, faith is shipwrecked! Think of Jobs' wife giving the world’s worst marital advice.
Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!”
These awful words inspired a paraphrased poem by Richard Blackmore (1654-1729):
Dost thou not see that thy devotion’s vain?
What have thy prayers procured but woe and pain?
Hast thou not yet thy int’rest understood?
Perversely righteous, and absurdly good?”1
But armed with better theology that affirms both God's sovereignty and his goodness, painful seasons can improve our Bible reading, prayer, and memorization, if you let them!
Gain: Transforming Bible Reading!
We rightly affirm the clarity of God’s Word. Even children can understand it. But understanding it requires a “willingness to obey” it!2 Otherwise, God often hides his truth from “wise and intelligent” unbelievers (Matthew 11:25) and from his stubborn children. But when we hurt, we are more willing to stop leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) and can better hear God speak to us through his Word. John Newton observed this:
Affliction greatly helps us to understand the Scriptures, especially the promises; most of which being made to times of trouble, we cannot so well know their fulness, sweetness, and certainty, as when we have been in the situation to which they are suited, have been enabled to trust and plead them, and found them fulfilled in our case.3
Whether it is a promise that now seems more precious or a warning that rightly scares us into submission, God uses all things (Romans 8:28) to help us obey. God’s Word heals the needy, not the overly confident and conceded. When we feel “sick,” the Great Physician’s prescription works for us (Matthew 9:12).
Gain: Effective Prayer!
Routine, remarkably ordinary days can impair your spiritual health! You are not motivated to “cast all your anxiety on Him” (1 Peter 5:7) when you feel fine. Our frequent unawareness of our neediness is why David’s forceful pleas for God to answer him seem so strange to our modern ears and even a bit irreverent!
Why do You stand far away, Lord?
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long, Lord?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your wrath burn like fire? (Psalm 10:1; 13:1; 89:46 NASB)
Since the most important aspects of our relationship with God are his words to us (the Bible) and our words back to him (prayer), Scripture urges us to pray desperately for insights into God’s word (Proverbs 2:3-4). Linda Alcock thinks that we are not usually desperate enough to cry out:'
When did you last “call out” for insight as you opened the Bible? Calling out is what we do when there is a need—a fire or an emergency of some kind. Have you ever felt the urgency of needing to know God but not having the resources yourself to understand his word? When did you last “cry aloud” for understanding? In our culture, we tend to prefer to pray silently, but why not give praying out loud a go? Ask. Loudly! It will feel very weird, I can assure you! But should it? If we knew how badly we needed help, maybe we would shout aloud to the Lord with a greater urgency.4
Her suggestion that you pray aloud to get the right urgency hits the note on the head! Read your Bible aloud during your pain, and then, as you speak aloud, direct your words from God’s words upward to him. You will hear God speak truth directly into your life!
Gain: Desperate Memorization!
Those who memorize are those who consistently live in the reality of desperation! To feel “poor in spirit” and to “mourn” sins in ourselves and others (Matthew 5:3, 4) will motivate us to memorize. I know that many get briefly enthusiastic about memorization. If I had a dollar for every Christian who told me that they would start memorization... Sadly, we only consistently store God’s word in our hearts when we are desperate enough to try this most powerful weapon. Facing pain, perplexity, or that pesky sin will drive you to memorize more than any personal resolutions when everything is peachy. In his excellent book on memorization, one pastor wrote about his battle against depression and suicidal thoughts:
The breaking point came when I started thinking of different ways to take my own life. Before this time, I had never had suicidal thoughts, but my mind was suddenly overrun… My experience memorizing Scripture had been minimal, but I was desperate. The deep immersion of Scripture memory would be a new weapon to penetrate the darkness, dislodge unwanted thoughts, and replace them with the Word of God.5
Don’t Wait for the Storms!
Both gratitude and regret should be our reactions when we realize that God is using pain to drive us closer to him. Let us be grateful that God does not leave us to ourselves, but “he is near to support us under trouble, and that he can and does deliver us out of it.”6 But let us also regret that we usually do not seek God every day with great zeal, unless prompted by pain and pressure. So, whether we are facing storms now or enjoying sunny days, let us seek the Lord daily and desperately. To him be the glory!
Your Turn!
How has God used pain or pressure in your life to bring you closer and ultimately to bless you?
HIGHLY Recommended Books (with links)
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