Don't Waste Your Pain

So what do people get for all of their hard work and struggles on Earth? Their lives are filled with pain, and their work is filled with grief. Even at night their minds don't rest. It doesn't make sense at all! Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? Galatians 3:4 (CEV)

10 WAYS TO BENEFIT FROM ANY KIND OF PAIN

1.  USE MY PAIN TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD IN WORSHIP

We were crushed and overwhelmed … and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us … and he did help us! 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (LB)

I am glad … not because it (your troubles) hurt you but because the pain turned you to God. 2 Corinthians 7:9 (LB)

ACTION PLAN: Moments of pain are moments to spend with God. If you are in pain right now, find a solitary place to be alone with him and then give him that hurt. Ask him how he is using it in your life. Ask him, above all, to use it to bring you closer to him in worship.

2.  USE MY PAIN TO DRAW CLOSER TO OTHERS IN FELLOWSHIP

By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.     Galatians 6:2 (NCV)

ACTION PLAN: Think about your level of sharing among close friends or in your small group. If you have not been open about the pain that you have experienced or are experiencing, consider the reason behind that. Risk exposure of yourself by allowing your close friends to know you on a deeper level and so they can pray for you.

3.  USE MY PAIN TO GROW MORE LIKE JESUS IN DISCIPLESHIP

Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. Proverbs 20:30 (TEV)

So even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:8 (NLT)

Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him. Hebrews 5:9 (CEV)

Now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. 2 Corinthians 7:11 (MSG)

Paul's Testimony of Pain:
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 and 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, our spiritual being is renewed day after day. And these temporary troubles we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (TEV)

4.  USE MY PAIN TO BE MORE SENSITIVE IN SERVING OTHERS

God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. Then, when others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.   2 Corinthians 1:4-6 (NLT)

5.  USE MY PAIN TO WITNESS TO THE WORLD

(Paul in Prison) I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. Philippians 1:12 (NLT)

In everything we do we try to show that we are true servants of God. We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind. 2 Corinthians 6:4 (LB)

6. GOD USES PAIN TO GUIDE AND DIRECT ME

But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. Job 36:15 - NIV 

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9 - NIV

Now I am happy, but not because I hurt your feelings. It is because God used your hurt feelings to make you turn back to him, and none of you were harmed by us. 2 Corinthians 7:9 - CEV

When you corrected me, it did me good because it taught me to study your laws. Psalms 119:71 - CEV

7 GOD USES PAIN TO GOAD AND CORRECT ME

A severe beating can knock all of the evil out of you! Proverbs 20:30 - CEV

God corrects all his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then you don't really belong to him. Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn't it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us? Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. Hebrews 12:8-10 - CEV

Consider yourself fortunate if God All-Powerful chooses to correct you. Job 5:17 - CEV

He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. At last he came to his senses and said, 'All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you. Luke 15:14-18 - Today's English Version (Good News Bible) (1992)

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? Hebrews 12:7 - NLT

8 GOD USES PAIN TO GAUGE AND INSPECT ME

For you examine us every morning and test us every moment. Job 7:18 - NLT

But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 - NLT

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10 - NIV

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. James 1:2-3 - The Message Bible (2002)

Remember every road that GOD led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Deuteronomy 8:2 - The Message Bible (2002)

9 GOD USES PAIN TO GUARD AND PROTECT ME

“God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress. He is setting your table with the best food. Job 36:16 - nlt

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 - NLT

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7 - NIV

10 GOD USES PAIN TO GROW AND PERFECT ME

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4 - NIV

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 - NIV

Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? Galatians 3:4 - NIV

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:19 - NIV

ACTION PLAN: Don't waste your pain! In a quiet place, write down the four most painful experiences in your life.Use these 10 factors as a checklist to write down how God used your pain to grow you, and the lessons you learned. Share it with the next generation.