May I make a case for the positive part of pain? This may be a bit difficult, considering we live in a world where people try to avoid pain as much as possible. In fact, two years ago, more than 123 million prescriptions were written just for pain meds.
I know of an individual who has a sickness that is deteriorating the part of his brain that signals discomfort. He has lost his ability to feel pain. In fact, his wife had to turn down the temperature on the water heater so he wouldn’t accidentally burn himself in the shower. Recently he became very ill with a high fever. They rushed him to the hospital where doctors discovered a serious issue that, in healthier people, would have been signaled by severe discomfort. Physical pain is an indication that something is wrong, and it needs to be corrected.
The Lord sometimes allows us to experience pain. Pain in suffering. Pain in affliction. Pain in discipline. They all hurt, but the pain always serves a purpose. Spiritually speaking, pain doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong. More often it means God is at work in us—developing character; removing a flaw; or strengthening our spirit. Peter the Apostle said, “It is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God . . . if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps” 1 Peter 2:19-21.
The apostle Paul said, “We rejoice in our sufferings [pain] knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” Romans 5:3-4.
It sounds like the old cliché “No pain, no gain” carries more truth than we thought, doesn’t it?