The Beauty in Pain

"Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Cor. 12:7-10

This is the only set of verses in the Bible that we have regarding why God allows physical pain in our lives.  So why does God allow headaches or flus or other more serious physical pain?  The answer can be found here; to humble us.  And it's true, the most humble people I have known are those with the most serious physical pain.  If you think of all the people you have known. you will probably realize that that is also true. :)

Before this passage Paul tells us that he got to see parts of heaven, but here he says, that so that he wouldn't get to prideful about it, God let Satan give him a "thorn in the flesh."  Whenever I hear that phrase I think, "I know exactly what he's talking about.  My neck feels like there is a thorn in my flesh half the time."  A thorn in the flesh is a thorn in the flesh.  It was some physical piercing pain that he had somewhere in his body. 

So why does God let us have pain?  To humble us.  I think that is the primary reason. 

When some teachers or pastors teach that God doesn't ever want you to be sick etc. I think that is a very grave and serious false teaching.  It is the main false teaching that bothers me in churches, because they are COMPLETELY ignoring this passage.  One would think that for PAUL, of all people, God would spare from physical pain.  He wrote half of the New Testament! But was he spared from physical pain?  No, not usually.  There was the one instance in Acts where a snake bit him and it did not harm him. But look at what he had to endure in his ministry.  Not only did he have this thorn in the flesh, what else did he say he went through?

"From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; ²⁶ in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; ²⁷ in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."  2 Cor. 11:24-27

And yet we think we can have a perfect life?  We think God will make us have perfect health with no pain if we just have enough faith?  We think God wants us to always be comfortable?  Is that Biblical?  God can give us a perfectly happy life, yes of course.  But will he?  No, probably not.  Why?  Because he wants us to depend on him, to NEED him.  If he made our lives perfect with no pain, how easy would it be for us to get puffed up and feel like we don't need God?  Very easy.  Think of all the puffed up people you have seen.  Is it because they seem to have a perfect and easy life?  Yes, probably.  And do they seem to be far from God as a result?  Yes.  Look at Hollywood actors etc.  They have all the money and comforts in the world and are they close to God?  No. 

Case in point why God does not let most of us get all the money and fame and comfort in the world we might want.  We would then drift farther and farther from God.  Who can God bless and it not go to their head?  Who can God bless and it not make them forget about God? 

In Hosea God is speaking about Israel and saying that when he blessed them, they forgot Him.  And so he says that he will take back his blessings from them and let them suffer. 

And isn't that often true of us, when God blesses us we forget him.


God gives us hardships, headaches, flus, stomach pain etc. to keep us dependent on him and to keep us humble.  "Bend the knee or have it broken" is a saying that I like.  It means that we can either bend our knees willingly before God/Jesus, or he might break our knees so that we will bend.  It sounds harsh, but God is not some teddy bear kind of God like our modern culture church makes him out to be.  He demands that we worship him.  He demands that we respect him. 

Another verse that relates to this that I noticed recently in my Community Bible study is, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed."  The commentary noted that this implies that some physical pain we might go through is due to unconfessed sin.  Not all, but maybe some.  Why else would it say that confessing our sins to each other can cause us to be healed?  That is interesting isn't it?  So find someone to confess your deepest darkest sins too, and who knows, you might then be physically healed of some things. :)   

As a mother of two I see a new thing in this, the topic of pain, that I didn't before.  When my kids get hurt they run to me.  When they fall down, that is the only time, really, when they want to run into my arms and for me to just hold them.  It's also when they are tired, but mainly when they just got hurt.  Perhaps it is the same with us and God.  He knows that the only time we run into his arms is when we are in serious pain.  Unfortunately that's just how it is, and that's how we operate.  The rest of the time we tend to be mostly self-reliant.  But God's greatest desire is that we are close to him, not that we are perfectly comfortable all the time.  So if God has to cause extreme pain in our lives to draw us closer to him, because we have forgotten about him for a time, He will.  But in the end, that is for our greatest benefit as well as God's. 

So why does God let us have pain, even actually will that we do?  So that we will run to him and draw nearer to Him.  So that we will run to him crying "Daddy hold me!  I need you to hold me right now.  I need you!"  And that is, and has always been, God's greatest goal and desire, to hold us.  :)

Amen.  God bless! :)

Purpose to Pain

Logical people run to doctors who promise that a flu shot will prevent you from getting a flu. Emotional people run to prosperity preachers who teach that if you believe like them you will have divine perfect health and maybe never get the flu. Then there's people like me, who say they are all lying just to make money off of people. And I know I'm gonna get the flu no matter what I do, because to be alive is to get sick sometimes and that's just life. But God gives us the ability to endure sickness. Praise God

I think God lets us have colds, flus, sickness and pain so we will grow closer to each other and to God. And pain makes us need each other more and feel more how much we need God. Maybe God has a purpose in pain to humble us and make us less self sufficient. :) amen.