Can We Find Joy From Pain?

What are we looking for as humans? Many people are looking for happiness. I have a great relationship with my girlfriend but there are times when we fight. But what happens when there is no happiness. There are time in our lives when we want to know about deep things and big questions. Why are we here? Who am I? Naturally we seek answers to these deep questions. This is because there are times when we look for some sort of directionality to our lives. We feel empty when we can’t find the answers to these questions. Like any good scholar, we should use reliable sources for our research. What sources do you use? Many people use other people to seek answers. Some people seek what’s popular in culture at the time. What about life’s problems? A good relationship will fix my woes! How about money. If I had more money, my life would be better. But what happens when there is no money. There is nothing to hold on too. What happens when there is pain and sorrow in life. What happens when life is just downright hard.

Have you ever taken a test? Do you remember taking tests in high school or taking finals in college? If you think about tests in the simplest terms, they have a very simple purpose. They disclose information about the person taking the test. They tell whomever is giving the test information about the test taker. Well thats life and you can’t get a pass to the bathroom. Life is full of tests. Why do we have to take tests in life? They show us how to overcome difficulties and grow. Sometimes it’s the “nail in the butt” that changes the way we live. Tests also reveal wisdom. But is it possible to actually find joy in pain and in hard times? If you read the book of James in the Bible, you will see that James says yes!

I suffer from tendinitis in my shoulder and rotator cuff. I taught myself how to overcome the pain. I taught myself how to control the pain rather than let it control me. It actually gave me joy to overcome it and continue to overcome it. It helps me perpetually grow as a person. I seek the Bible as my source. When James wrote his letter to Jewish Christians under attack around A.D. 45, he wrote it as a letter of hope and learning. He wrote it as a servant of God.

(James 1 1:1-8) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Peace and Love,

The Editor