Pain

Paul says we energetically and enthusiastically praise God, not only for his grace, but for this pressure, this suffering. And you wonder, is he having a temporary moment of apostolic insanity?

None of us would ever sing a song that goes like this. Thank you, Lord, for all of my troubles. Thank you, Lord, that things never work out. Thank you, Lord, for giving me problems.

I am thanking you now as my world falls apart. The truth remains, we all struggle with praising God for the gift of pain. Ever since Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, people have experienced pain. We face physical pain, emotional pain, and pain in the depths of our soul. We even experience pain that was caused by people who are close to us. The question for you today is this, what's your perspective on the pain in your life? Have you ever thought about pain as one of God's gifts to you? It's not a pleasant gift like peace and grace, but it comes from God and it is a gift.

Would you like to know how that can be true? Well, here's Stephen Davey with a message from God's word called the gift of pain. According to this legend, a king who lived in India had a unique way of dealing with somebody he didn't like. This king, of course, having everything at his disposal, gave this obnoxious person a very special present, a rare white elephant, a real one. It seemed to be a great honor to get such a rare gift from the king. In fact, the king acted as if it was a rare privilege, but he knew the truth. The person who'd received the gift because it was a white elephant couldn't do anything with it.

And India was considered divine or sacred and so couldn't be forced to work. So all it did was eat and eat and eat and eat. And the person who'd received the gift eventually went bankrupt, just keeping the white elephant alive. He couldn't give it away because it was a present from the king.

And so he was stuck literally with a white elephant. There you have it. Isn't that amazing? Have you ever received a gift you didn't want?

Have you ever opened a package from somebody and you knew immediately that you'd gotten the gift for that distant relative for next year and you just sort of tucked it away and that you'd pull it out and send it over? Well, we've been discovering the gifts that God has given us in this list of Romans chapter five. And we discovered the wonderful gifts of peace and the gift of grace and how we exalt in the grace in which we stand. Now, the apostle Paul, who is continuing to work his way down the list of gifts, comes to one that surely has landed on the wrong page.

You read where he writes in verse three, which is where we left off. And not only this, but we also exalt in our what? Our tribulations.

You could render the word pain or stress. You go up to verse two and you track right along with him through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exalt. There's the word we fervently, triumphantly, passionately praise him. Verse three, not only this, but we also fervently, passionately praise him for our pain. As you move through the list, you discover the third perfect gift from God is nothing less than the gift of pain, trouble, suffering, affliction. If you're like me, when you read the list and you get to that one, you take a second glance because surely Paul isn't saying that we have now the gift of pain. That would be a white elephant gift if there ever was one. You're going to give that one away.

Stick that over here, wrap it and hand it to some unsuspecting person later. But it's true. Paul says we energetically and enthusiastically praise God, not only for his grace, but for this thing, the Greek word is phlipsis for this pressure, this suffering. And you wonder, is he having a temporary moment of apostolic insanity?

Does he mean it? Who would ever do that? I've never heard anybody say there's been a lot of pressure in my life right now and nothing's working out. And I'm just praising God for that.

None of us would ever sing a song that goes like this. Thank you, Lord, for all of my troubles. Thank you, Lord, that things never work out. Thank you, Lord, for giving me problems. I'm thanking you now as my world falls apart. I wrote that this last week.

Nobody will ever sing that one. The truth remains, we all struggle with praising God for the gift of pain. Let me talk in general, first of all, about the subject of physical pain.

There are two things that I want to bring to your attention. First of all, physical pain is an unavoidable part of life. Thomas Jefferson, when he wrote to a friend a long time ago, said that the art of life is avoiding pain.

That sounds good, but he's dead wrong. The art of life is not avoiding pain. The art of life is learning how to respond to pain. The truth is the experience of living has everything to do with how you live through the experience of living. Now follow me closely here.

Every one of us not only experiences pain, physical pain in life, but we actually began life with pain. Listen as Philip Yancey describes the event. Your world is dark, safe, secure. You're bathed in a warm liquid, cushioned from shock. You do nothing for yourself. You're fed automatically and a murmuring heartbeat assures you that someone larger than you fills all your needs. Your life consists of simply waiting. You're not sure what you're waiting for, but any change seems far away. You meet with little discomfort. If any, there are no threatening adventures.

Ah, it is a fine life. One day you feel a tug, then another, and then another. The walls seem to be falling in on you. Those soft cushions are now pulsating and beating against you, crushing you downwards. Your body is bent in half, your limbs twisted and wrenched. You're falling upside down. For the first time in your life, you feel pain. You're in a sea of roiling matter. There is pressure almost too intense to bear. Your head is squeezed nearly flat, and you are pushed harder and harder and all the noise, the pressure. You hear the sounds of screaming and crying and groaning and an awful fear rushes in on you.

It's happening. Your world is collapsing. You're sure it's the end of whatever there would have been. You see a piercing light, cold, rough hands pull at you, a painful slap. Congratulations, you've just been born.

Welcome to the world. Isn't it wonderful that none of us can remember that? What an ordeal. The first experience in life that all of us had delivered a message implicitly that pain is an unavoidable part of life. Secondly, pain is not only unavoidable, but it is essential to life. Many people think that physical pain is God's one great mistake. I've read that.

It's his mistake. The nervous system with its millions of pain sensors always gets bad press. If God is so wise, why wouldn't he create some ability to never feel pain?

Wouldn't that be great? Let me reshape your perspective with what Dr. Paul Brand has revealed a man who's lived his lifetime working with lepers. Hansen's disease, which leprosy is actually called, slowly destroys its victims because they do not feel pain. The disease primarily acts as an anesthetic, numbing the pain cells of hands and nose and ears and eyes and feet and legs. While most diseases are feared because of pain, this disease is to be feared because you feel no pain. The destruction of fingers and eyes and feet and other limbs follows simply because the warning signs of pain are missing. Dr. Brand talks about working in Africa and India and Asia. And I have seen people myself in some of those countries with leprosy. He talks about how a leper will reach his hand directly into the fire to retrieve a dropped potato, never thinking, never hesitating.

Why? Feels no pain. Now has the effects and still feels no pain with the effects.

Nothing in his body told him he cannot do that. Patients at Dr. Brand's hospital in India would work all day gripping a shovel with a protruding nail in their hand and never know it. They would walk on shattered glass and never feel the pain of their burning and bleeding feet.

Patients will slowly go blind because their eyes never felt the discomfort that you and I feel throughout our day, which causes us to repeatedly blink, cleansing our eyes. They will twist an ankle and there will be the tearing of tendon and muscle. But unlike us, where we would bandage it or ice it or limp or stay off of it or sit down or something, they simply adjust their walk and their foot is ruined beyond repair.

Their leg, they will adjust and walk crooked the rest of their life until, in fact, their leg is damaged beyond repair and has to be removed. No wonder Dr. Paul Brand said this. He said, thank God for inventing pain. All pain, of course, is not good. Sometimes it's the flaring up of pain which communicates something to be repaired and fixed that cannot be fixed or repaired. But for the majority of cases, physical pain is God's warning signal.

And without it, none of us would survive for very long. So pain is not only inevitable, but it is essential. So also Paul in Romans 5 is basically saying the same thing, that the pain of emotion, the stress that we feel in our hearts, the afflictions and the adversities of life are not only unavoidable or inevitable, they are also essential. Would you notice what he did not say in verse 3? He did not say and not only this, but we also exalt if our tribulations come.

He implied that they would. We exalt in our tribulation. The Apostle Peter said as much when he wrote, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange or surprising thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Well, that asks the question, what did Christ suffer with? Christ suffered with rejection and abandonment and misunderstandings and ridicule and physical beatings and indignities and ultimately death. But as you then fellowship with those sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, he writes, so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation.

That's the same word the Apostle Paul uses when he says exalt in tribulation, fervently, intensely rejoice. I believe I can safely summarize the trials of our lives into six categories. Things I want to experience, which don't happen. Things I don't want to experience that happen. Things I like, I don't have. Things I don't like, I have. Things I'm waiting for, never come.

Things I'm not ready for, come early. Surely these things would not affect the sons and daughters of the king. Surely the gifts of adversity and affliction and pain are what we could call white elephant gifts. They are from some perturbed sovereign who is upset with his subjects, or maybe they're given by a weak God who just couldn't keep that from happening.

There are people who've decided either one of those throughout the course of history. Surely a powerful God would only design wonderful things to happen to us. Well, Solomon clears our perspective by writing it this way, consider the work of God for who is able to straighten what he has bent. In the day of prosperity, be happy. And in the day of adversity, remember, God has made the one day as well as the other. Ecclesiastes 7, 13 and 14.

That verse is probably the most ignored verse in 21st century Christianity. Everybody seems convinced that God wants everybody to have prosperity and blessing. Surely God would not bring days of adversity, but Solomon said it himself, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God produces the day of blessing. God allows, as it were, producing the day of adversity. He doesn't create sin, but he allows the effects of evil to bring about that which is good, we know from scripture. So both are in his hand, both are within his power.

I mean, think about it. What would you say to an accident victim? What would you say at the bedside of a terminally ill person?

What answer do you give to somebody standing next to a fresh grave or at the scene of a violent crime? See, what we need are more people who will admit that life, according to the Word of God, has both prosperity and adversity and the times are in God's hands. Somebody needs to admit that life is more like a war zone with real battles and real bullets and real blood. There is sickness. There is heartache. There is disappointment. There are crippling accidents. There are crushing experiences.

There are tears and there is death. Let's stop ignoring it and acting as if surely a believer would not be affected by those. Those are gifts for people God doesn't love. And yet you find in scripture, those are gifts for people that God loves. You see, we need more believers today who will face the realities of life with the right theology, not with the error that is rampant in our church and in our day, that God's primary purpose for existing is to make us all happy.

His primary purpose is that we bring him glory, which means we are made to be holy. And when we are holy, we truly can understand something of joy. I would like somebody to remind us who like the Apostle Paul, that it is wonderful to fellowship not only with the power of Christ's resurrection, but the fellowship of his sufferings.

And what would that person say? That person would say, for starters, the tribulation and affliction is God's designed gift. The Apostle Paul wrote, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake. That's the phraseology of a gift.

You're ready? He's saying it has been given to you the gift for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. And people today who say all suffering is wrong, all who suffer are out of the will of God. All disease is a result of either lack of faith or sin. If you have trouble in your life or adversity, it's because you're not looking to him.

Listen to a great man of faith record out of his own personal life. And I quote him, we have been afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We have been perplexed, but not despairing. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We are struck down. That's a metaphor of a wrestler.

We are thrown to the mat, but we are not pinned down. Second Corinthians four, seven to nine. That's what I call overcoming the adversities of life. Now let me say, first of all, that tribulation in general, which is inevitable and also essential, is used by God in a couple of different ways in our lives in general.

Number one, God can use tribulation to correct us. David wrote in Psalm 119, before I was afflicted, same word in the Greek Septuagint found in Romans chapter five. Before I was pressed, before I was crushed, I went astray, but now I keep thy word.

Have you found that to be true in your own life? He writes, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness thou has afflicted me, much like a parent who afflicts a child. So the Lord often uses painful ordeals to arrest our attention and to protect us from even greater harm.

That's only one part of it. God uses tribulation not only to correct us, but also to construct us. And that's the thought of Paul as he talks about this word tribulation here. He goes on to write, we also exult in our tribulations.

Why? Because there are some building blocks that are going to occur in the life of the believer. We know that tribulation brings about perseverance. Perseverance brings about proven character. Proven character brings about hope and hope. This kind of hope does not disappoint. So here's the first of the three building blocks that he tells us God is using to construct our lives.

Here's what's built. First of all, pain produces perseverance. Now, you know as well as I do that Paul has been talking on the subject of justification in these previous verses. He has talked about what justification has done for us. It has given us the gift of peace and grace. Now he is in effect telling us what justification does inside of us. These are things that happen inside of you. Did you ever think about the fact that justification can give you peace, but it cannot give you patience? How many of you would characterize yourselves as a wonderfully patient person?

It's unanimous. Proof that when you came to faith in Christ, you were given justification and you were given peace by that justification, but not patience. This is something that will happen inside of us. Justification can give you grace, but it cannot make you godly. That's the course of life. Justification is the foundation.

Paul now talks about the construction on this. And he says in effect that it will be pain, it will be pressure, it will be stress, it will be affliction, it will be disappointment, it will be hurt that produces hupomone, the ability to bear under the discipline that an athlete reaches after they tear their muscle and they rebuild it stronger and tear it again and rebuild it. Now they're ready for a longer run. Nobody gets up in the morning and decides they will complete a marathon. Short runs and then longer runs and even longer and then they have developed hupomone. They've been able to endure the pain.

They now run the marathon. Secondly, perseverance produces, he says, purity. My translation says proven character, dacome. It's a word that refers to the absence of impurities. And it goes back to the ancient goldsmiths of Paul's day, a word that carries with it the idea of their practice. They would refine their crude gold ore in their crucible. The only way to separate the gold from unwanted material was to apply intense heat and to bring it to liquid form. And when they did, the impurities would rise separating from the gold, rise to the surface and that ancient goldsmith would skim it away and he would apply more heat and more impurities would rise and he would skim it away. And the goldsmith in Paul's day knew when the gold was pure, he could look into the vat or the pot or whatever it was and he could clearly see his reflection without the impurities getting in the way. Job said he knows the way I take and when he has tested me, I shall come forth as pure gold. Imagine if God is desiring then to see his reflection in our character.

Perhaps the heat is still intense in some area of our lives simply because he has yet to see his reflection. Tribulation produces perseverance. Perseverance produces purity.

Finally, purity produces perspective. Look at the latter part of verse four where he says, proven character produces hope. My translation reads, we could call this eternal perspective. This kind of hope sees beyond your life. It sees God at work through the course of time. God doesn't in our lives at the moment we want relieve our pain. He does promise to transform our pain and use it so that it actually builds us up with perseverance and purity and perspective. But that requires eyes on eternity, as one author said. That was what gave Peter hope.

Listen to what he wrote. In this, you greatly rejoice. Okay, here's the theme of joy again. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.

Why? That the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found that is may be created to ultimately praise and honor and glory at the site of Jesus Christ. If you had Peter in here and you asked a Peter, you're going through difficulty and pressure and adversity. What gets you excited? And he would say something like, I'm going to see him. I know that this testing by fire will be replaced with the visible sight and revelation of Jesus Christ.

First Peter one, six to seven. In other words, God has promised to set things right. We as believers surrender to the adversities of life. But behind us is this perspective that we will allow history to finish.

Let history finish. While you wait, you give him glory and while you suffer, you honor him. And while you receive that which you don't want and don't get what you do want, you glory in him alone and discover in him the one who will finish history, the one who is to be our greatest desire anyway. Paul goes on in verse five to say, when you hope like that, you will not be disappointed. How many times have you said, Well, I had hoped and then you complete your sentence some way. Well, I had hoped in that person. I had hoped in that cure. I had hoped in that interview. I had hoped in that purchase. I had hoped in that child. I had hoped in that friend.

I had hoped in that investment. Paul says, When you hope in God, you will never be disappointed. So we are to hope in him. And at the end, ladies and gentlemen, Jesus Christ will ride on the wind and he will come and set all things right.

And we will not care to even have our answers to the questions we've had then because it won't matter. That's eyes on eternity. How do you hold fast? Well, by accepting the gift of peace and grace and pain. It's correction. It's construction. And when you accept the gifts, all of them, when you surrender to them, you'll find your heart opening and your lips opening with honor and glory and praise.

Now, you won't do it like you will do it when you see him, but you can do it now. I give you the illustration of Fanny Crosby. We have a lot of hymns in our hymnal written by this woman. When she was only six weeks old, she had a minor eye inflammation and improper medical treatment left her completely blind. She would later write these words, quote, it seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life and I thank him for it. She would write that her blindness quote was God's gift so that I could write songs for his glory.

And she would go on and write hundreds of them. We've sung them here and we sing them here to God be the glory. Great things he had done face to face with Christ, my savior, all the way my savior leads me.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. She wrote her first poem when she was eight years of age. Listen how she expressed praise and glory to God and the acceptance of this.

Even as a young girl, she wrote these words in her very first poem. Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see. I am resolved that in this world contented I will be how many blessings I enjoy that other people don't. So weep or sigh because I'm blind.

I cannot and I won't. End of poem. That's what I would call accepting the gift of pain. How are you suffering today? I realize that at the moment thinking of pain as a gift is not an easy thing to do. But have you considered that God is using your pain and is working through it?

Our response is to accept it, surrender to it, and allow God to transform us even through the hurt of pain. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Today's lesson is simply called pain. If you missed a portion of this lesson, you can go to our website and listen again. That address is wisdomonline.org and you'll find this and all of Stephen's other messages posted there. My name is Scott Wiley and I thank you for listening today. Make plans to join us tomorrow right here on Wisdom for the Heart. I'll see you in the next video.