Pain For Gain

Many years ago I heard a saying that has stuck with me. God does not waste pain. Chew on that for a minute. In the life of His people, the redeemed, those who are blood bought, saved, rightly related to Him, forgiven and made new creations. For those people I can say God does not waste pain.

I have met so many people who endured painful experiences none of us would ever want to go through. Nightmarish pain. I would like to tell you just a few of their stories. I will change the names to protect their identities but the stories are real.

Dobbs practiced homosexuality for years. He kept it a secret for a long while. One night at a concert he heard the gospel presentation. Then the lead singer wanted to pray for people who were keeping a dark secret. That night Dobbs put his trust in Jesus and Jesus set him free. Free indeed. Today Dobbs is famous. He ministers to tens of thousands. God has used him widely. He also has a wife and several children. Tough Dobbs went through the pain of homosexuality, God uses that pain for the gain of others who are looking for help.

Charity is a mother. She lived a charming life until her second child. She gave birth to a physically impaired child. Only a few years into that young life she died. Charity went through the agonizing and numbing grief that follows. She has used her pain and the way God brought her through it to minister to other parents who lost their children. She also ministers to other broken and battered women all over the nation.

Lisa came from a well to do family. She married well. From the outside, it looked like a fairy tale life. Only the fairy tale ended when her husband took his own life. Shock rippled through the community. Lisa testified to me that God proved Himself so real in those days she could not explain it. God helped her through the grief and back toward a joyful and fruitful life. She is a dear friend to our family. She is also one of the greatest people of prayer I know.

Bert got trapped in sexual addiction. Perversion of every kind. Lust strangled him for years until Jesus delivered him and broke the bondage. Bert testifies to young men and shows them the path to freedom from sexual addiction. The pain has come even afterward. Many judge and refuse to listen to his story. They write him off as still one caught in his addiction. He is free. Not something he boasts in but glorifies Jesus when he testifies. He is a mighty warrior for His Lord.

God did not waste their pain. He used it to help others going through the same things.

The greatest example is Jesus Christ. His pain on the cross resulted in our gain in salvation for everyone who trusts Him. His pain but our gain. It shouldn't have been that way. Why should He have to suffer for what we did wrong. Out of His pain came the greatest gain ever. Millions have experienced the gain of salvation through His pain of crucifixion.

I am encouraged that God can use painful situations and produce something gainful from them. He has done that repeatedly in history. Maybe He wants to do that again through you. If you experience some pain don't give up on God. Something good may come of it yet. Your pain may be used to be someone else's gain.