Is There a Purpose to Pain?
By: Maxine M.

From one to ten, ten being the greatest, please rate your pain!!
Doctors & nurses often ask this question so valuable insight they’ll gain
Pain is when nerve endings trigger a message to our brain

We immediately react to something HOT…instantly moving away
For at the pain of burning, RETREAT is what our mind will convey
But even a minor, vague ache can cause a day to seem bleak & gray

Cuts, bruises, broken bones, surgery, disease…all cause pain from mild to severe
No one has ever been EXEMPT since Eve’s 1st labor pains would appear
Pain clouds the future, as the UNKNOWN may bring apprehension & fear

Imagine, the progressive pain of leprosy, treated as an out-cast everywhere you went
But Jesus showed great compassion for those of His day in physical torment
He healed many, relieved their pain, forgave the sins of those that would repent

Because pain may not only be physical, but emotional, mental, Spiritual as well
The pain of betrayal or suffering inflicted by ABUSE can mentally continue to grow and swell
Holding you back every time you try to break free & excel

Emotional pain, left untreated, will somehow find a way to survive
Scars are formed but, when triggered, those memories will suddenly revive
Robbing one of a sense of value…of the fullness of joy in life, be deprived

Loss can cause tremendous emotional pain…life will never be the same again
Loss of those you love, loss of your job…new companies only hiring younger men
Loss of your health…suddenly life’s in a downward slide, a real tail-spin

The pain of loneliness, the empty nest, divorce, lost dreams for which you still grieve
The anger and bitterness at one who abandoned or the one who simply won’t leave
The pain of rejection, “YOU’RE NOT WORTHY”…the message you perceive

Job concluded, man was born for trouble and PAIN is part of trouble’s trait
So what can be the PURPOSE of all this pain that seems to be our fate?
Does God know? Does He care? What answers will we find if we truly investigate?

But when we examine His word in DEPTH, listen to His Spirit speak
We understand that YES, He KNOWS, He CARES…the BEST for His children He’ll constantly seek
He KNOWS that our faith is strongest when we’re defenseless & weak

Job saw his pain as unfair punishment (but it really was just a test)
God was proving His point to Satan that Job was truly upright at best
He defended his righteousness, but that GOD was in control, he confessed

So pain is one way of getting our ATTENTION when we’ve pushed Him to the back of our mind
When cares of this world have altered our course, made us spiritually blind
VULNERABILITY will expose which priorities need to be redefined

Pain can be a WARNING sign, alerting us to a problem somewhere
Trouble hiding within the body that perhaps will require a drastic repair
Or mental agony, a result of wandering too far from our Shepherd’s care

Pain & fear often accompany GUILT for those mistakes which we’re so inclined
But when we realize “WHO’s in charge”, we see prayer as the best medicine we can find
Not just praying to take the pain away, but to help us though this trial He’s designed

Now, did you ever consider, OTHERS might learn from the pain you’re going through?
The purpose of your pain is perhaps to SHOW them what faith can do
Be it physical, mental or emotional, by YOUR perseverance, some will say, their strength grew

Or maybe the true purpose of our suffering, like Job’s, we’ll never get to know
We just have to trust…wrap ourselves in the comfort Romans 8:28 can bestow
Find someone else also in pain & let Christ’s love for them, through us, flow