That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. -Philippians 3:10

We seek to encourage people who are experiencing considerable pain. When pain wracks the body, it seizes the attention of our entire being. We cry out for relief to God and man. When relief is not found or granted, what then? Could there be some redeeming benefit to pain and suffering?

Like us, Paul sought God to remove his painful trials, and Paul certainly understood pain. A partial list of his sufferings is found in 2 Corinthians 12:24-25, “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned.” When release from these sufferings did not come for Paul, he discovered The Great Consolation, knowing Jesus Christ, the great soother of pain.

For Paul, having a tight relationship with Jesus became the overriding goal of his life. Pain relief was secondary. But why? What did he gain from knowing Christ?

Paul provides several points of gain in knowing Christ through pain:

1) Knowing Him is the ultimate discovery of life anyway!
“I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3: 8). Paul reset his affections from lesser, worldly desires, to Jesus Christ. As a result, he experienced the incredible kindness, love, and comfort of Christ. Thus he was drawn deeper and deeper into experiencing the most attractive Being in the universe. Could pain be the unexpected catalyst to awaken us to life’s most rewarding relationship?

2) Sharing in His sufferings leads to sharing in His resurrection power.
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3: 10). When we turn to Him in our pain, He touches us with His powerful presence. Then His resurrection power surges in and through us. His strength is perfected in our weakness. We find ourselves in His grip with an other worldly peace, and unquenchable hope.

3) Clarity of purpose to pursue eternal goals.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3: 14).
To word this another way, it is extremely wise to leverage our time and efforts for eternally rewarding purposes. Then in the end, the payoff will be crystal clear. We will have answered His call, and thereby stored up vast treasures… in heaven! This is the ultimate focus, to tell of His goodness in every circumstance.

When we take our suffering and pain to the Lord, He pulls back the curtain to show us Himself. He is the Great Consolation. Where are you turning in the midst of your pain? Let’s draw near to know Him through the pain.

“Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:6).

Did God notice David’s tears? Does God care about our tears?

Tears are deep and wholehearted prayers to God. He captures and collects them. He knows the journeys of those who wander in the wilderness and in the enemy territory of cancer. He is noticing and watching and mapping our steps.

“You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8).

It was many years before God completely consolidated David’s kingdom. In the meantime, David trusted God. Psalm 56 is often called a “trust” psalm. David told himself the truth; God is always worthy of our trust.

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid” (Psalm 56:3-4).

God is always for you, even when you’re wandering in the wilderness. He is definitely for you when you’re fighting for your life. So, like David, say to yourself,

“This I know, that God is for me.” (Psalm 56:9).

But this is not how God deals with those who have received the Savior, Jesus Christ! This is the reason Christ came to earth: to TAKE AWAY our sin and punishment so that we could “walk”! Isaiah 53:5-6 puts it like this:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

In the American justice system, Presidents can “pardon” those accused of crimes. They can release criminals from prison, and even clear their records, as if they had never done anything wrong. This is what God does for us in Christ. Both Paul the Apostle and King David were murderers, yet God pardoned them and cleared their records. They rejoiced in the awesome blessing of being released from punishment for their sins. Here are two more powerful promises of His mercy and forgiveness:

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me (Jeremiah 33:8).

Find out more about receiving God’s plan of salvation here.