The Power in Pain

No one likes to endure pain.  No one enjoys suffering.  No one looks forward to hardship.  But there is extreme power in pain.  Pain and suffering are the keys that unlock a great store of power. 

Pain is never fun, but pain is always profitable.

Pain is promised.  Pain is a part of life.  There is no escaping it.  If you are alive on this earth, you have experienced pain of some sort.  The fact that you are breathing means that you have endured some sort of hardship.  If you haven't, prepare yourself- it is coming.  Pain is inevitable, unavoidable, and.....necessary.  If we are to ever gain power to do and accomplish great things, we must first suffer and travail.

Pain is profitable.  To bring a child into this world, a mother must endure great pain.  The anguish of childbirth is what allows the mother to have such joy as she holds her newborn babe for the first time.  The mother's agony of the delivery is soon swallowed up by the euphoria of having and holding a child that she brought into the world.  Her pain was the doorway she had to walk through to enter into the rest and comfort of caressing her child.  The workman toils and labors all day long and must endure many trying things in the course of his work.  But that pain is the passageway to the living he earns and the sense of self-worth and accomplishment he possesses at the end of a long week.  The athlete subjects his body to intense, painful training so that he may attain an edge in competition.  The painful sacrifices he makes in denying his body certain desires and appetites is the catalyst that will propel him to glory in his sport.  Without pain, there is no profit.  Absent toil and hard work, there can be no achievement or progress.  Comfort, casualness, and leisure have never wrought anything lasting.  

Only pain has the power to bring profit.

Pain is power.  Pain is in and of itself the power that moves and drives accomplishment.  Pain is not only powerful, it is power.  Our sufferings are the fuel that fire our drive to get past the suffering itself and move on to better times.  The "fellowship of suffering" Paul speaks of in Philippians 3 is the power that will allow us to know Christ, and to know Christ is to have power.  Only through pain may we gain the power we need to do the things Christ has for us to do.  Through this fraternity of hardship we take part in the pain Christ endured for us by taking up our cross daily and living a crucified life.  In this, we gain access to the power that is inherent in the pain.  

Pain is perfecting.  We are perfected in Christ the more we take part in this fellowship of suffering.  Unlocking the power that we need and that is available to us can only be done through taking part in pain.  Many see pain as a trammeling force that stunts progress or sets things back somehow.  They miss the crucial part of the process of pain.  Pain, after it is wrought, works to perfect and complete.  If we are faithful to endure the pain and accept the trial, then after we come through it we will reap the benefit of pain's power to perfect us.  Pain is the only way we will ever gain intimate knowledge of Christ and the immense power He promises those who partake in His fellowship of suffering.  Pain will grant power and pain will perfect us.  So don't think it strange when fiery trials come your way.  Do not shrink in fear when faced with a tiresome trial.  Stand firm in the confidence that Christ is simply working to perfect you.  Move boldly forward to face the hardship in the knowledge that you will be the beneficiary of the power that may be gained in the midst of the hardship's pain.