What is the purpose of pain?

 

Secularist View

 

The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation… In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.

-Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Pain doesn't serve any purpose...
Pain is the effect of karma…
Pain is just an illusion…

Christian View

 

Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.

-Tim Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

Christians are like nails, the harder they’re hit, the deeper they go with God.

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Background to the book of Philippians:

 

Paul wrote this letter while Nero was ruling Rome.
Nero persecuted Christians brutally, and Paul wrote while imprisoned under Nero's empire.

…I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

-2 Corinthians 11:23 - 28

Pain is Inevitable

 

...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

-John 16:33

Misery is Optional

 

People don’t hate pain, they just hate pain without a purpose.

Pain can draw you closer to God.

Pain can draw you closer to other people.

1. Pain is a microphone

 

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

-Philippians 1:12-14

Your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest pain.

-Rick Warren

2. Joy is a choice

 

...Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

-Philippians 1:18-19

Nineteen times in Philippians Paul tells us to rejoice… why?

The Christian life is to be lived above the circumstances, not under them.

-Skip Heitzig

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

-Philippians 1:21

And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas.

-Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

3. If you don’t have it, you can get it

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

-Galatians 5:22-23

You can experience joy if you start with a heart posture of gratitude.

Routines create results:

Try 21 days of gratitude. You can rewire your brain to be someone that is joy-filled. 

Every morning when you wake up:
What are three things you are thankful for?

Every evening when you go to bed:
What are three things you are thankful for?

Make a Decision