Purpose of Pain

"Pain is no longer pain when it is past."

-- MARGARET J. PRESTON

Emotional pain, like physical pain, can tell you something. Although not pleasant and very uncomfortable to endure, the pain you have suffered in your life can create tremendous value and purpose if you allow it to do so.

Pain can serve as a compass to point us in new directions and new opportunities. Typically, we tend to avoid a circumstance, a person, or a type of a person, if it has caused us pain in the past. Making these adjustments contributes to our personal development and growth and helps to develop new-found confidence when the adjustments we make lead to better, less painful, and more gratifying results.

Sometimes in life it’s not what happens to you that define your character, it’s how you respond to what happens to you that define your character.

Just as there are not accidents without value, the pain we feel can pave the way to developing a more courageous and confident spirit. When we get hit, really hard, and fall to our knees in despair, but somehow summon the strength to rise and face the challenge again, we become smarter and we become stronger for the next round.

The purpose of pain is to remind us we are alive. If we will allow it, pain can provide the foundation to live a life of courage and determination. The memories of pain, and knowing we can survive, will help keep us on our feet, too.

No one wants pain. We do everything we can to avoid it, sometimes hurting ourselves in our attempts to escape it. But no matter how hard we try to protect ourselves and our loved ones, we will all endure pain in our lifetimes – and tragically some will suffer horrifically.

The Bible reveals that God did not create pain. The source of suffering is evil, not God. His design for us was to be at peace in relationship with Him.