"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation (persecution, affliction, distress, pressure. The meaning in the original Greek). But take heart (i.e. do not be fearful or lose hope); ⁷I have overcome the world.” - Jesus in John 16:33
The good news is God knows, understands, and uses our pain and struggles for our good. In knowing this, we find peace - i.e. "...in me you may have peace."
How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here
For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here
For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.
The greater the
grace click here.
For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.
For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.
For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here
___________________________________Footnotes:
¹Pain reminds us that we were not designed to operate without God. The more we come to see and understand this the more we look to God for true life, not creature comforts.
Coming to see and know God as the true source of life, love, and all things is at the heart of our transformation - growth. Pain is the primary means by which this occurs if we receive it by faith as such, i.e. we do not become embittered by our suffering, pain, or struggles but welcome them as our friends to help us grow deeper roots into God and find Him as true life.
²We are so blinded by our selfishness we will never see how deep it runs until we are pressed beyond our ability to handle the pain it causes.
³God actually calls us to go through pain to advance us spiritually. We don't think of self-denial as a form of pain. However, self-denial is a call to turn away from those things we find comfort in, to ease our pain, so we might pursue God as our comfort.
To elaborate on this calling, Christ says to take up our cross and follow him. The cross is a symbol of pain. Christ is calling us to take on and embrace pain to follow him. At first, we might think this is insane. Why would God call us to willingly take on and embrace pain when we spend all our lives trying to avoid it!?
When the world asks how can God be good and just when He does not relieve all the pain and suffering in the world, it reveals the depth of our rebellion towards God. Pain remains to wean us away from dependence on the creation and turn us to dependence on the Creator for true life where it belongs and where we will flourish and experience life most. If we allow pain to do this, we will be saved in, by, and through our pain and suffering, i.e. It remains for the exact opposite of what we assume. God ultimately uses it to advance us, not harm us. But only if we receive it as from His hand for our advancement, not our harm.
⁴The primary directive is that we love God with all that we have and are and our neighbor as ourselves.
⁵Pursuit of something other than God for life is at the heart of our rebellion.
⁶The heart of our brokenness - selfishness - is our rebellious commitment to being our own god. This is due to not believing God is who he claims to be... the Source of life, love, and all things. The result is the pursuit of creation itself and making it our god.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." - Rom1:18-23
Of course, today we do not worship birds, animals, and creeping things as they did back when Paul penned this. But these are representatives of the creation. It is ascribing to created things - i.e. anything from our earthly existence - the value and glory that can only be ascribed to God. That is the application and underlying truth of this passage for us today, not the primitive worship of animals.
⁷How did Christ overcome the world? He embraced the world's pain and suffering (including ours) and allowed it to kill him so that we might not have to remain in pain. Then He overcame that pain by resurrecting so that we might also resurrect one day if we put our trust in Him.
¹Pain reminds us that we were not designed to operate without God. The more we come to see and understand this the more we look to God for true life, not creature comforts.
Coming to see and know God as the true source of life, love, and all things is at the heart of our transformation - growth. Pain is the primary means by which this occurs if we receive it by faith as such, i.e. we do not become embittered by our suffering, pain, or struggles but welcome them as our friends to help us grow deeper roots into God and find Him as true life.
²We are so blinded by our selfishness we will never see how deep it runs until we are pressed beyond our ability to handle the pain it causes.
³God actually calls us to go through pain to advance us spiritually. We don't think of self-denial as a form of pain. However, self-denial is a call to turn away from those things we find comfort in, to ease our pain, so we might pursue God as our comfort.
To elaborate on this calling, Christ says to take up our cross and follow him. The cross is a symbol of pain. Christ is calling us to take on and embrace pain to follow him. At first, we might think this is insane. Why would God call us to willingly take on and embrace pain when we spend all our lives trying to avoid it!?
When the world asks how can God be good and just when He does not relieve all the pain and suffering in the world, it reveals the depth of our rebellion towards God. Pain remains to wean us away from dependence on the creation and turn us to dependence on the Creator for true life where it belongs and where we will flourish and experience life most. If we allow pain to do this, we will be saved in, by, and through our pain and suffering, i.e. It remains for the exact opposite of what we assume. God ultimately uses it to advance us, not harm us. But only if we receive it as from His hand for our advancement, not our harm.
⁴The primary directive is that we love God with all that we have and are and our neighbor as ourselves.
⁵Pursuit of something other than God for life is at the heart of our rebellion.
⁶The heart of our brokenness - selfishness - is our rebellious commitment to being our own god. This is due to not believing God is who he claims to be... the Source of life, love, and all things. The result is the pursuit of creation itself and making it our god.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." - Rom1:18-23
Of course, today we do not worship birds, animals, and creeping things as they did back when Paul penned this. But these are representatives of the creation. It is ascribing to created things - i.e. anything from our earthly existence - the value and glory that can only be ascribed to God. That is the application and underlying truth of this passage for us today, not the primitive worship of animals.
⁷How did Christ overcome the world? He embraced the world's pain and suffering (including ours) and allowed it to kill him so that we might not have to remain in pain. Then He overcame that pain by resurrecting so that we might also resurrect one day if we put our trust in Him.
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Grace to you
Jim Deal