Pain Is Good

Steve Boots
6 minutes ago
2 min read

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 12:6

I think I’ve made it clear that I’m a woodworker. I think I officially earned that title when I cut the end of two of my fingers off in the jointer I was using to flatten a piece of wood. My wife immediately took me to the ER so the damage could be assessed. There was so much blood that it was initially hard to tell what had actually happened to my fingers or what the permanent damage would be. Even by the time the doctor bandaged everything that night and set me up with an appointment to see a hand surgeon a couple days later, it was still unclear just how bad it was.

By the time I made it to the surgeon, the bandage had stuck tightly to the wounds. As the doctor began to remove the bandage, it caused intense pain. The pain was so ferocious that it almost threw me from the chair as, layer by layer, he peeled the bandage away. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but my reaction and the look on my face let him know just how bad it hurt. But he had a job to do. The wounds had to be exposed so he could see what it looked like and decide on a course of action going forward. Had he just stopped at the first sign of discomfort or pain for me, he certainly would not have done what was best for the wound to begin to heal. Instead, he continued to peel and pull while I continued to writhe and sweat. There was no sign of pleasure on his face, but he knew this was for my good. The pain he allowed, or even caused me to suffer, is what allowed the healing process to start in earnest.

As Christians, God treats His children the same way. There is nothing in our loving God that makes Him enjoy watching us suffer, but He knows that we often must go through difficult things to get us to the place He needs us to be so He can use us. Everything God allows, He does so to draw us to Himself. For the unsaved, it is to draw them to Himself for salvation. For the Christian, He allows our suffering to hopefully draw us closer to Himself. There is no indication in the Bible that God gets joy in our pain, but He allows it because He knows it is best for us. A surgeon causes pain because He knows that is what is best for a wound to heal, and our loving Heavenly Father scourges and chastens the ones He loves because He wants us to enjoy the best He has to offer us.