One of the best examples of productive pain is going through unmedicated childbirth. The intense pain of delivering a baby is so agonizing that the would-be mother is all sweaty, crying, and even yelling in pain until such time that the baby comes out.
Just like a mom holding her baby for the first time, people who surrendered their lives to Jesus following heartbreaking events in their life, see that all the pain they have experienced was worth knowing Christ. That no matter their struggle, what is important is finally they now recognize the presence of the Messiah in their lives.
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:10
Back when we were not yet in fellowship with God, we may have felt like being beaten down by problems. We may feel like we are being hit on every side, we may even feel like we are either cornered or at rock bottom. If we will examine how we got to this point, we will often realize that the sufferings we have experienced are due to the natural consequences of our sins.
And since we do not have a personal relationship with the Lord yet, we find ourselves struggling even more. We keep on wriggling our way only to find ourselves sinking deeper into the pit.
But then time will come when the Lord Himself will call us back into His arms to heal us from our pain. He will invite us to come to Him, and He will do so in many ways. He will use both likely and unlikely people to call us back, and He will encourage us to come to Him through different situations in our daily life.
But since our Lord gave us a free will, He will not impose Himself on us. It will be up to us to hear Him call us amid the agonies we are going through.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:1-2
And so if our deepest struggles did not lead us to Jesus, then all those pain we endured will mean nothing. It will be meaningless to the point that we will not learn from the natural consequences of our sins and continue doing it over and over again.
Have you noticed why some people seem to find themselves suffering needlessly over a vicious cycle of sin, guilt, shame, and regret? It is because they think they are in control of their lives. They have not recognized Jesus, who died for the forgiveness of their sins, to make things new for them, and to transform their way of thinking.
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10
One of the best examples is the Samaritan Woman in the well, who is onto the sixth man in her life. Scholars say that most likely in her quest of finding true love and security, she hops from one marriage to another only to find herself failing. Her quest for a good husband has become her idol.
Good thing she recognized that her parched heart does not need this world’s water. Instead, in an encounter arranged by the Messiah Himself, she realized that all she needs is the Living Water that is Christ Jesus.
“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” John 4:13-15
Once we recognize that call from God amid our pains, we should not think twice about reaching out to our Heavenly Father’s hands. We can do this by surrendering our life to Jesus and making Him the Lord of our life. We repent from our sins, step away from our sinfulness, and grow our faith by studying His word, regularly worshipping, fellowshipping with other believers, and nurturing a close relationship with the Lord through an active daily prayer life. We also live our faith by following His will, and making God honoring choices all the time.
“For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ” 1 Peter 3:17
And as we look back into our old life, and the sufferings that we have gone through, we can now manage to smile because we know that those sufferings were all productive pain.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on John 4:5-30 and 1 Peter 3:13-18 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Can you now say that your past miseries have all been worth it because you came to fully know Christ Jesus?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for not giving up on me back when I could not hear you call me. Sorry that through my sufferings then, you were not my source of security and strength. Now I know that you are my all in all, I can say that every bit of suffering I have experienced was all worth knowing you. I love you Lord. Amen.
