The Purpose of PainSample

When I was 15, I began to feel extreme stomach pain. Unbeknownst to us, I had an appendicitis. My first visit to the doctor gave us a diagnosis of the flu. The second visit, they said it was anorexia. The third visit, they called it “grumpy teenager.” I ended up rupturing my appendix, and it made me septic (meaning that my body was infected everywhere now, not just my appendix.)

Multiple surgeries and months of recovery later, I was left wondering why there was pain and sickness in the world. 

The older I become, the more I realize that pain and sickness will always be some component of this life for us or the people we love.  Like we talked about in Day 2, pain is the product of sin, and until God comes again to remove all of the sin in this world, we will experience pain. 

Pain is a huge reminder of why we long for Christ. The promise of God is not that our pain will be removed in this world. The promise of God is that He is making a new world where the pain we have here will be no more.

The older I become, the more I realize that pain is a reminder that we yearn for Heaven and the next life more than this life. In Christ, the best is yet to come—no matter what!

Challenge:

Start today with forming the habit of living for what truly matters.  When you are hurting and feel the pressure to compare your life to others, set your mind on eternal things and prioritize what God does (your relationships with Him and people).  We will be rewarded in Heaven when we get this right.

We hope this Plan encouraged you. For more resources to grow in your faith, check out the Strong Roots Podcast .