How do we find purpose in the painful experiences that come to us in this life? What hope does Scripture offer us? 

<p>How do we find purpose in the painful experiences that come to us in this life? What hope does Scripture offer us? </p>

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CORE Evangelism School

Dee Casper

Finding Purpose in Pain

Oh sweet Jesus, thank you that you've been so good to us this week.

I know many of us have fared better than others.

People are grieving the loss of family members right now.

They're grieving the loss of their own health right now.

And so I just praise you for the blessings that each of us have received.

I pray that you'd minister to those who have needs right now.

And I pray specifically as we embark to address a very difficult topic, the topic of pain, Lord, I pray that you would minister to us, that you would help us, and that you would speak life into these dark chapters of our experience.

I don't really feel like my mind is in the right place to do this justice.

Lord, this is something I need you to do.

And I'm reminded of the lyrics of a song that if you would choose to use me my Savior, in spite of my fears and all of my failures, I'm not much to look at, but whatever I am, I'm yours.

Thank you, Kyle, for helping us out there.

Click on that there link if you want to learn more on Facebook at least.

So again this evening's topic is the topic of finding purpose in pain.

If pain and heartbreak and disappointment have led you to have negative beliefs about yourself and about your value as a result of your pain, and if they've robbed you of hope in different areas of your life, then I'm hoping and praying that this study will be a blessing to you this evening and show you that there's hope, that whatever storm has come into our lives has left us feeling pain and heartbreak and loneliness and grief and has led us asking the question why.

I hope and pray that this evening can kind of help to grab some provide some answers and some encouragement to us.

And we may end up doing a follow-up study on another topic that's somewhat similar to this because I'm not going to be able to do all of this justice, but these are some things that have come to my mind and have been placed on my heart for a while, and I hope they can be helpful.

We're told in Romans chapter 15 and verse 13, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So if grief and pain and difficulty has come into your life and robbed you even of hope itself, The Bible says that He is the God of hope and we can pray for Him to fill us with all joy and peace and believing and that we would abound in hope by the power of His Holy Spirit.

We're also told in Romans 5 5 that hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Now this is very good news because the Holy Spirit is actually referred to as the Comforter and for a reason.

And I would encourage you this evening to let him, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, pour God's healing love into your life and allow that hope to grow in your heart this evening.

To keep trusting that he's able to pick you back up again and to strengthen you no matter what you've gone through.

We're told in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31 that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, not might, they shall renew their strength for waiting on the Lord.

And we shall mount up with wings like eagles, we shall run and not be weary, and we shall walk and not faint." And Jesus actually warned his disciples in John chapter 16 and verse 33 that in this world you are going to have tribulations.

So notice he wasn't preaching this prosperity gospel that if you follow me everything's going to be easy.

He said in this world you're going to have tribulations.

Beloved, if Jesus has overcome the world, He can overcome whatever pain has been brought into your life today.

And He gave them a very specific warning a few verses earlier than John 16, 33 about the heartbreak and disappointment that they were going to go through regarding his betrayal and death.

And he used a very interesting analogy regarding its purpose and eventual end.

This is found in John chapter 16 beginning at verse 20 and also verse 21.

It says, Most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come.

Jesus says that joy will come, even though you're going to have to deal with difficulty in trial, and he promised, and the illustration he uses here, it seems to be childbirth.

And we've got a new mom who just joined us on Instagram, who I'm sure can testify to the pain of childbirth.

But anyway, he says, A woman when she is in labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she is given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

So Jesus here promises that yes, a time of difficulty is coming, but I will equate that difficulty to childbirth, that it's difficult, It's painful, but on the other end of it, you're going to forget the pain that you've gone through over joy for what you have received And in verse 22, it says therefore you now have sorrow but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice And then it says and your joy No, man can take from you That when we come to find purpose in our pain and see what Jesus was doing on the other end of this, we're going to forget all the nitty gritty, gory details of what we've gone through and just find a sense of gratitude and peace and thankfulness because of what we received on the other end of it.

This is what Jesus promised the disciples in John 16, and I believe he promised that to us as well.

And this also tells me something that I think there's a very practical lesson we can draw from this in John chapter 16.

That our pain, when it's surrendered to God, is directional.

It's leading us somewhere and can help us.

And I believe on the other end of our painful experiences, God is going to help us forget all of those excruciating details of how hard it was and appreciate that this is what it was required for us to receive what we needed to receive and to become who we needed to become.

There is purpose in our pain that's allowed to come our way.

That Jesus equates it to childbirth, it's directional.

It will make sense on the other end if we allow God the ability to do so.

And I believe that God can redeem our pain for good.

This is what I believe Romans chapter 8 and verse 28 is alluding to.

That God works all things together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Notice, not everything happens for good for everybody, but for those who love Him, it can be turned into something good.

Anything that comes our way, God is able to bring good out of those circumstances, we're told, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

And what I've come to find is that He is what I find and what I need in those dark moments.

Sometimes it takes pain and difficulty for us to realize just how much we need Jesus.

Because we're in a world we get deceived by the deceitfulness of riches and glory and other things and we just forget the fact that I was created with a purpose to be a child of God, to live up to that purpose.

And sometimes pain is the avenue to remind us of why we're here in the first place and what matters most.

I've heard many testimonies and even had to testimony in my own experience that in the midst of this difficult season that our country and world is going through, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, People are being reawakened to what the real purpose is and what the real important thing is in life.

Not riches, not glory, not fame, not building my own empire or something else.

That I'm here as a child of God and my life is important, it has meaning.

And I believe that God can use circumstances like this, even global crises, to open our eyes to the fact that there's something more, that there's someone more that deserves our attention.

We're told in Proverbs chapter 13 verse 12 that hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

I believe that when we're going through difficulties and it's difficult for us to believe that there's hope because we're in the midst of pain and trial and grief and loneliness and so forth, that it's difficult, right?

It makes our hearts sick to have to wait on that hope to come back into our experience.

But we're told that when that desire comes as a tree of life, it's a gift that keeps on giving, right?

The tree of life is indeed a gift that keeps on giving.

It sustains your life forever, not just a meal for today.

Our pain can be something that could actually be a gift that keeps on giving if we allow it to, if we bring it to God to allow him to redeem that pain.

And I believe that God is asking us to surrender the pain and fear to hope anymore to God, right?

The pain in our lives and the difficulties that we experience in life can lead us to be afraid to hope anymore, right?

We let go of our hope because we're just...

Is anything good going to come out of this?

Could anything good ever come my way again?

We'll go into a story in scripture about this very soon.

But if we surrender that pain and our fear to hope anymore to God and trust that what's on the other side of this can bring us new life, it will.

And God also redeems our pain by using what we learn and the comfort that he gives us to help others.

Again, we're addressing the topic of finding purpose in pain.

I was just studying this this morning, and I wish I had my mind better wrapped around all what's happening here in chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 7, because I'm just scratching the surface right now, but I found some gold today.

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Finding Purpose in Pain

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