When Life Hurts

Scriptures are filled with the painful troubles that follow God's saints. Abraham had to leave all his loved ones and culture behind, to follow God. He wandered in the desert and lived in a tent awaiting a son whom it never seemed was going to come. And then he nearly had to kill that son of promise as an offering to God. Jacob wrestled and was crippled, Joseph fled sin and yet God let him get falsely accused, chained and injured. Dinah was a modest young woman yet was kidnapped and raped while in the family tree of the Messiah. Being in God's family doesn't mean a life of leisure. The Christian life will sometimes be painful and full of problems.

God wants us to know something very clearly: Pain is a tool He uses to develop His good plan in my life. In fact, Jesus said in John 13:7: 'You don't realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' Pain is the ultimate test of that verse. If we can't see the purpose for our pain, we can struggle with it. When we see His purpose, we grow or nurture! So, this morning, look with me at the five things God says about pain in His Word. Five ways God uses Painful problems and trials for good in your life.