The Purpose of Pain

The Purpose of Pain

By Apostle Felix

2 We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God! Hebrews 12: 2

The cross of calvary is the symbol of pain, shame, rejection, humiliation, condemnation and death. Jesus is called the man of sorrows. He experienced the worst pain of his life when His own creation rejected and ridiculed Him. And not only di they reject Him, but condemned Him to death for the crime He never committed. The reality of pain was so intense that Jesus had to sweat blood in the garden of Gethsmane before His arrest. It was not a child play, but the pain was real. However, the pain had a purpose. That’s why Jesus cried and said to His Father that not His will, but the will of the Father be done. He had to go on that journey of pain willingly for the purpose of securing salvation for mankind. The avoidance of pain, would have meant the damnation of mankind. His pain had a purpose attached to it.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53: 3-4

Pain is common to man. It is a common occurrence to every living being on earth. We come into this world through the passage of pain. Our mothers went through tremendous pain to bring us into this world. However, out of pain, we are regarded as bundles of joy. The church too, is a product of pain. Out of Jesus’ pain the church was birthed. Jesus talked about the carrying of our own crosses. The cross is not the ultimate destination but is definitely a route every christian has to go through.

The cross, which is the symbol of pain, plays its role in our lives of directing us into our glorious destiny. You might be feeling the weight of your own cross right now. Probably, you have been praying for this season of pain to end. Paul prayed for the season of pain to end in his life, but the Lord’s response was to remind Paul of His sufficiency for him. God supplies grace for every season of pain. It is because the Lord knows that pain has it’s own purpose in the journey of life. Destiny in most cases in enshrined in pain. Consider Joseph, the dreamer. He had dreams of greatness. But that dream did not fit in his environment of birthplace. His family was nomadic. They had no permanent abode. They were moving from place to place. They had no education. No civilization.

They lived in tents. So if Joseph stayed with his family, he was going to be a local champion, fighting over cattle and sheep with his brothers. God had to take him out by using his brothers, who sold him into Egypt. In Egypt, he was sold to Potiphar, where he was falsely accused and landed in prison. That was his life. He did not understand why his life was experiencing so much pain. He remembered his dreams, and thought to himself as someone cheated by the Lord. But little did he know that the fulfillment of dreams was the land of pain. Whatever, you might be going through today, please do not despair. Pain oftentimes helps us to realize our potential and destiny. The pain of Christ turned to be our joy.

5 I’ve learned that his anger lasts for a moment, but his loving favor lasts a lifetime! We may weep through the night, but at daybreak it will turn into shouts of ecstatic joy. Psalms 30: 5