Is There A Purpose for My Pain?

If you were to hold the elements that make sought-after perfumes in your hand, you would notice that they don’t naturally give off an aroma. Rather, the precious components that combine to make perfume require crushing to give off a scent.

The same is true for us. To be a fragrance of Christ to the world around us, we ask God, “Will you crush us?” 

It is how we endure that crushing – the heartbreak we didn’t see coming, the phone call we can’t forget, the loss that still stings – that makes us conduits of Christ to those around us.

Today, we are going to look at two prominent men of the faith who experienced pain and, through their stories, discern how we, too, might endure what is trying to take us out. 

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

We are starting today’s journey with Paul, who wrote this letter to the church at Philippi while in prison. When he opens this letter we now call Philippians, Paul thanks God for them, addresses their concern, and shares his love for them. When we pick up in verse 12, we see that while imprisoned, Paul is still confident that Christ is using Him. 

Look at verse 14, “most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

Paul’s unlikely circumstance was the seedbed for other believers to be bold in Christ too. When we boldly stand on the promises of God, it encourages the person next to us to be filled with faith and rise up as well. Courage is contagious.  

Paul teaches us that the confidence we have in Christ, even when we are crushed, builds a courageous spirit in the community around us. 

Don’t shrink back, stride forward. 

What happens when you shrink back? What if your plan falls through? That is where we pick up with the second person in our journey today.

 Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet before he was born. Destined for impact, Jeremiah would stand before kings and speak to the nation, courageously calling out how they continued to forsake the Lord.

As Jeremiah went forth to preach to the people in his hometown of Anathoth, he was met with resistance. As disdain grew for the message he was bringing, Jeremiah retreated back to God and made his complaints known.

God answers Jeremiah in chapter 12, verse 5, saying: 

If you have raced with men on foot

    and they have worn you out,

    how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

    how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

If you can’t keep up with men, how can you run with horses? If you stumble in safety, how will you prevail in problems? Tomorrow, we will unpack what God’s answer meant for Jeremiah and for us.