WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.759 Pain is a warning light that something is wrong. Okay, 2 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:10.119 that's what pain is. Pain is a warning light that 3 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:14.080 something is wrong in your life, in the economy, in 4 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:16.079 your family, in your business, whatever. 5 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.239 Pain is always a warning light. 6 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.480 Now, let me ask you, if a warning light goes 7 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.920 off in your car and you ignore that warning light, 8 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:28.000 does that make the problem go away? Of course, not 9 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:30.600 ignoring pain will not make it go away. It won't 10 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:33.960 fix the cause of your pain. And to ignore pain 11 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.600 in your life is literally one of the dumbest things 12 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:41.039 you can do. Pain is a warning light that something's wrong. 13 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.000 There is purpose in pain. Now, today, I want to 14 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.439 show you five ways that God can use any pain 15 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:53.960 in your life for your own good, regardless of the source. Now, 16 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.159 did you hear what I just said? Regardless of the source, 17 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:01.840 regardless of whether your pain came to you from something 18 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.799 good or something bad, whether you brought the pain on 19 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.200 yourself from poor choices or other people cause pain in 20 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:12.359 your life and you're innocent, or Satan's trying to attack 21 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:14.799 you with pain and tear you down. You know, we're 22 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:17.319 always worried about the source. No matter what the source 23 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.280 of your pain is, God can use it for good 24 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.560 in your life We're gonna look at right now. Five 25 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:28.319 ways that God can use pain for good in my life. 26 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:31.400 Here's what God's word says. Five ways God can use 27 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.840 pain for good in my life. Number one, God uses 28 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.280 pain to guide and direct me. Proverb sixteen to nine 29 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.000 says this. A person may plan his own journey, but 30 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.519 the Lord directs is steps. 31 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:47.000 The Lord direct circle. 32 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.480 That word directs so much the time we're not aware 33 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:51.519 of this, But behind the scenes, God is using even 34 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:53.799 our choices, both the good ones and the bad ones, 35 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.760 to direct our steps. God is directing your life. Job 36 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:02.840 thirty six point fifteen says this. God teaches people through 37 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:09.000 suffering and uses distress to open their eyes. Does that 38 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.439 ever happened to you? Oh, of course it has. God 39 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.120 teaches people through suffering, uses distress to open their eyes. 40 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:19.199 He guides and directs us through pain. You ever thought 41 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:21.840 about why horse riders put a bit in a horse's mouth? 42 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:24.719 Is it for the horse's comfort? Of course not. 43 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.599 The rider actually uses discomfort to point the horse in 44 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:33.120 a different direction. It's the rudder like on a ship, 45 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:35.439 like a tiny rudder on a boat. Sometimes it only 46 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.240 takes a little bit of pain to guide and direct us. 47 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:39.240 Or to read diirect this. 48 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:41.520 Paul had this to say, the believers of Corinth who 49 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:45.400 we're experiencing some discomfort and pain. Two Corinthians seventy nine. 50 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.879 He said, now I'm glad, not because it hurts you. 51 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.599 He's talking about some pain they were going through. Paul says, 52 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.039 I'm glad. I'm not glad because it hurts you, but 53 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.199 I'm glad because the pain turns you to God. That's 54 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.919 the first thing pain does. Guides and directs us. It 55 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.759 often turns us in a new direction. You know, when 56 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.360 King David realized that God was using the pain in 57 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:11.000 his life that he was experience to guide in directive, 58 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.039 David was actually grateful for his pain, and in Psia 59 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.960 one nineteen, verse seventy one, he says this, You know, 60 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:19.639 it was the best thing that could have happened to me, 61 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:23.039 for it taught me to pay attention to your laws. 62 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.159 It is good for me to be afflicted, David says, 63 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:29.599 so that I might learn your laws, I might learn 64 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.199 your statutes. Let me ask you a personal question. Has 65 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.039 God ever used pain to get your attention? 66 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:36.280 Oh? Yeah? 67 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.520 Has God ever used pain to me to guide you? 68 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.000 To guide you in a new direction? To direct you 69 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:43.840 in a new direction. 70 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:45.840 Yes. C. S. 71 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.439 Lewis once said, God whispers to us in our pleasure, 72 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:52.000 but he shouts to us in our pain. Pain is 73 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.560 God's megaphone, and it directs you, It guides you. Pain 74 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.800 never leaves you where it found you. So that's the 75 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.240 firs benefit of pain that God can use it for good. 76 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.719 Don't matter how bad the pain is or where it 77 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:10.400 came from. God can use pain to guide and direct me. Second, 78 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:12.960 God can use pain not only to guide and direct me. 79 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:16.720 He can use pain to God and correct me, goad 80 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:18.639 and correct me. 81 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.759 Now what does that mean? What does God mean? What 82 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:22.639 means to motivate? 83 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.480 When somebody goads you on, it means they're spurring you 84 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:30.079 onto action. Pain is a catalyst. Pain catalyzes in action 85 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:33.879 like nothing else. One of the most obvious verses in 86 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.879 the Bible is Proverbs twenty thirty that says this, sometimes 87 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.480 it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. Hello, 88 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:44.519 anybody want to give a testimony on that? Every one 89 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:46.600 of you could think of a personal example right now 90 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.000 in your own life where you can give a testimony 91 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.920 of the truth of this verse that sometimes it takes 92 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.560 a painful situation to make exchange our ways. Pain prompts 93 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.480 us to do things we'd rather put off. It prods us, 94 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:05.199 It pushes us. It goads us, It goads and it motivates. 95 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:09.680 It not just guides and directs. It goads us and 96 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:11.240 pushes us in the right direction. 97 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.120 You know. Typically we don't change when we see the light. 98 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:16.920 We think we do. We don't change when you see 99 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.600 the light. We change when we feel the heat. I mean, 100 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.680 let's just get real honest here. When was the last 101 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:25.480 time you decided to go to the dentist? When did 102 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.639 you finally go to your dentist? Was it when you 103 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:29.560 had free time? 104 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:33.720 No? Is, when you were in pain and. 105 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:36.319 The pain finally got so bad you couldn't no longer 106 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.480 delay or postpone or procrastinate to do something about it. 107 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.720 Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change 108 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.839 our ways. Now, pain not only guides and directs, it 109 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.800 gods and corrects. Do you know the difference between correction 110 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.959 and punishment? If you're a parent, I want you to 111 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.959 listen to this, particularly the difference between punishment and correction. 112 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.600 You shouldn't punish your kids. The Bible as you should 113 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.720 correct them. Why punishment is a penalty for the past. 114 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:09.240 Correction is training for the future. It's discipline is not punishment. 115 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:14.680 Discipline is training. Discipline is correction. Sometimes in life, something 116 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.079 bad happens, we think God is punishing us, and actually 117 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:22.439 God is just correcting us. Why because God doesn't punish 118 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:25.639 his children. Yeah, you heard me right. God doesn't punish 119 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.399 his children. Why because Jesus has already taken all of 120 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.879 the punishment for every sin on the cross. And if 121 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.439 Jesus took all that punishment and then God punished you, 122 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:37.959 that's double jeopardy. Every sin you ever commit has already 123 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.959 been paid for. So God doesn't punish you for your sins, 124 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.800 but he definitely does correct you. And correction is the 125 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.879 evidence of love. And how does God correct us? Sometimes 126 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:51.560 through pain? Hebrews twelve eight to ten says this, God 127 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.920 corrects all of his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then. 128 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.399 You don't really belong to him. See that verse. 129 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.439 Look at that version in your outline. If you don't 130 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.240 ever have any correction in your life, then you're not 131 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:05.160 really a believer. Because God corrects his own children. God 132 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.279 doesn't correct those who aren't his children. I don't worry 133 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.759 about other people's kids, but I certainly corrected mine. The 134 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.759 Bible says there God corrects us for our own good 135 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.879 because he wants us to be holy as he is. 136 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.600 Another verse that says the same thing as Job Chapter five, 137 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:28.680 verse seventeen. Consider yourself fortunate when God, all powerful, chooses 138 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.759 to correct you, just means that he loves you. So 139 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:35.839 God uses pain to go and motivate and correct me 140 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:36.959 when I'm messing up. 141 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:37.759 You remember the. 142 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:42.120 Story in the Bible that Jesus told about the arrogant 143 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:45.560 young son who asked for inheritance and advanced it before 144 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.480 his father had even died, took his money and went 145 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:51.720 and spent it everywhere, wasted on wine, women and song, 146 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:54.399 and he goes down to Sunset Strip in Jerusalem and 147 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:57.800 just blows everything he's gotten. Pretty soon he's bankrupt and 148 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.240 he's having to feed pigs to to make a living. 149 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.319 And that's pretty bad if you're jew. And the Bible 150 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:09.120 says that he was in a mess. But what was 151 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:11.680 it that motivated that young man in that story of 152 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.079 Jesus to finally go back home to his father. It 153 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:20.040 was pain, It was discomfort. Luke Chapter fifteen, verse fourteen 154 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.800 to eighteen. The story of the Prodigal Sign. It says 155 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:27.519 he spent everything he had and then he was hungry. 156 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.000 Now you know he is being motivated. He's being goaded. 157 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:33.000 Okay. 158 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.039 At last he came to his senses and said, I'll 159 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.480 go I'll get up and I'll go to my father. 160 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.919 He came to his sentences. Why did he come to 161 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:46.200 a sentence? Why did he come to his senses because 162 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.120 he was motivated? And why was he motivated because he 163 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:53.600 was hungry? Who are the most motivated salesman? Hungry salesman 164 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:56.679 made me think of when Josh was a little kid. 165 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:58.799 One time he skipped lunch at school and he came 166 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:03.799 in complaining to He said, my stomach aches, and Kay said, well. 167 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.000 It's because there's nothing in it. 168 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:07.919 About five minutes later, I walked in and I said 169 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:11.480 my headaches and Josh said, Mom says, because there's nothing 170 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:17.159 in it. If you want your life to go smoother, 171 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.159 all right, you want your life to go smoother, just 172 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:23.399 start cooperating. When God brings any kind of correction into 173 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.919 your life. He's not punishing you. God isn't mad at you. 174 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:27.519 He loves you. 175 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:31.240 He's mad about you, and Hebrews twelve, verse seven says, says, 176 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:34.120 let God train you, for he's doing what any loving 177 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:37.559 father does for his children. Whoever heard of a child 178 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:41.759 who was never corrected? Circle the word train and circle 179 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.039 the word corrected. They go together. That's the second purpose 180 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:48.039 of pain, to correct us, to train us, to go 181 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:53.360 to us and correct us. Now, how many of you 182 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:56.879 who are parents would rather not have to discipline? Well, 183 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:00.039 all of us, but how many of you? Sometimes I 184 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:04.519 have to discipline your kids anyway, all of us. God's 185 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.879 the same way. He'd rather not correct you. He'd rather 186 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.320 not have to discipline you. He'd rather not have to 187 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.519 allow pain in your life. But sometimes the only way 188 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.360 to train is through pain. To you here that sometimes 189 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:21.559 the only way to train is through pain. Aristotle once 190 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.039 said we cannot learn without pain. And I would say 191 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.879 that some things you learned you learned by being burned. 192 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.399 Let me give you personal testimony. In all my years 193 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.960 of walking with the Lord, I can tell you this, 194 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.519 I have learned absolutely nothing from pleasure. All the important 195 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.840 stuff I've learned in life I learned through pain. I 196 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:51.000 learned nothing through pleasure. I learned nothing from success. Everything 197 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.000 I learned I learned through pain. The man who's never suffered, 198 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.799 the woman who's never suffered, they don't know much because 199 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:01.799 the greatest insights on life are found at the center 200 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:05.360 of pain. You learn things there that you can't learn 201 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:10.440 any other way. But when that happens, never doubt God's motive. 202 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:13.480 He is a loving father. He is not punishing you. 203 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:17.720 He is correcting you because he loves you. So let's 204 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:23.200 review why how can God use things for good, even 205 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.840 the pain in my life for good? Well, he uses 206 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.759 it to guide and direct me. Second, he uses it 207 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.080 to God and correct me. Number three, God uses pain 208 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:38.960 to gauge and inspect me. God uses pain to gauge 209 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:42.159 and inspect me, in other words, to find out what's 210 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.840 really inside of me, to test my character. People are 211 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.000 like tea bags. You don't know what's really in him 212 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.399 to you drop them in hot water. In Job chapter seven, 213 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:55.519 verse eighteen, it says you God inspect them every morning, 214 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.159 and you test them every minute. Did you know that 215 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:02.080 God's inspecting you every morning and every minute? Another verse 216 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.879 Jeremiah seventeen ten, The Lord searches our hearts. That's inspection, 217 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:10.960 and he examines our deepest motivations, which we don't even 218 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:11.600 know ourselves. 219 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:13.279 Why does he do that? 220 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.120 So He can give to each person his right reward 221 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:20.919 according to his deeds, how he has lived, So how 222 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.919 does God inspect us and test us? 223 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:26.000 Well? 224 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.600 Look at the next verse on your outline, Isaiah forty eight, 225 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:34.240 verse ten. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 226 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.679 God uses pain to test your character. God uses pain 227 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:43.600 to test your commitment. God uses pain to test your faith. 228 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.559 The Bible often compares suffering to a refining fire, like 229 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.799 when you heat up gold to burn off all the impurity. 230 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.039 So it's just pure gold. 231 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.519 Heat burns off the impurities and silver and other gold 232 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.000 and precious metals. So let me just ask you right now, 233 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:04.159 if you're going through pain of any kind, are you 234 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.639 allowing that pain to burn off the impurities in your life? 235 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:19.120 What are you allowing pain to burn off? Self centeredness, pride, materialism, impatience. 236 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.399 Pain is a measuring tool. It's an evaluation tool. It 237 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:29.200 tests our character, and your reaction to pain does reveal 238 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.399 a lot about you. Look at this verse, James, Chapter one, 239 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.039 verse two and three. It says God tests and challenges. Now, 240 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.519 it says tests and challenges come at you from all sides. 241 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.039 And we know that you get tests and challenges from 242 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:45.879 all sides. And you know that under pressure, your faith 243 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.559 is forced into the open to show its true colors. 244 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:49.840 Don't you love that? 245 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.279 In the message paraphrase, he's saying, pain is a test. 246 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:55.960 It exposes the real view for you. It shows what 247 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:02.360 you really like inside. You know, image and reputation, that's 248 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:05.720 what everybody thinks you are. Character is what you really are. 249 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:08.360 Character's what you are in the dark. It's hard to 250 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:13.519 maintain an image when you're in pain. Or Shakespeare said 251 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.840 nobody can be a philosopher with a toothache. So has 252 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.399 God ever tested your character with pain? 253 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.639 Oh? Yeah? Oh yeah? 254 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.759 And so God wants to test you and when it's 255 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:33.840 painful when you say, well, I have integrity, but are 256 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:37.000 you willing to lower your stand when it's painful? You 257 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.399 might say I am committed, But do you want to 258 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.759 throw in the towel when it's painful? You say I'm 259 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.039 a woman or I'm a man of faith, But do 260 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:48.320 you want to give up and get discouraged when pain 261 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.120 comes into your life? Your faith is measured by your 262 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.399 reaction to pain. Your commitment is measured by your reaction 263 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:59.279 to pain. Your integrity is measured by your reaction to pain. 264 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:07.320 Your christ likeness is determined and shown revealed by how 265 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:12.679 you handle pain. Your maturity shows how your pain shows 266 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.879 how mature you are. What does pressure reveal about your faith? 267 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.080 Are you more than just a fair weather believer? 268 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:20.600 You know? 269 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:23.279 This is the reason, by the way that it took 270 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.639 them forty years in the desert to get from Egypt 271 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.320 to Israel, the Promised Land, once they had been freed 272 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:33.679 from four hundred years of slavery. You know that story 273 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:39.320 that you could walk from Egypt over to Israel in 274 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.879 about a month or less, and it took them forty years. 275 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:45.600 What in the world they're doing out there in the 276 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:49.799 desert being tested? And God gave them seven major tests, 277 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:53.000 and every time they failed to test, he says, okay, 278 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:56.960 one more lap around the desert. Deuteronomy eight two. God 279 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:00.120 says to the Israelites. God led you through the wilderness 280 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:04.000 for forty years, humbling you and testing you to find 281 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.720 out how you would respond and whether or not you 282 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.600 would really obey him. These are the tests. And I'm saying, 283 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:14.519 are you going through pain right now? This is a test. 284 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.519 Are you going through an emotional wilderness. Right now, this 285 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:23.799 is a test. God may be guiding and guiding you, 286 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.639 or God may be goading you, or God may be 287 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:33.799 gauging you. He may be seeking to inspect you and 288 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.720 find out what's really on the inside. Maybe though, your 289 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.120 pain that you're going through right now is for a 290 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.840 fourth reason. Number four, God uses pain to God and 291 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:49.639 to guide and to guard gauge. But number four God 292 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:54.360 uses pain to guard and protect me. God uses pain 293 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.039 to guard and protect me. And this is a wonderful 294 00:16:58.080 --> 00:16:59.519 thing that we don't often realize. 295 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:00.480 Ninety one. 296 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:07.440 Verse three says this God will save you from hidden traps. 297 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.720 And he said, what traps, Well, that's why you don't 298 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:10.119 see him. 299 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:10.640 They're hidden. 300 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.519 But all around you are hidden traps that Satan has planted, 301 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.640 and the world is planted, and the flesh is planted, 302 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:22.720 and those traps are there. Sometimes God uses you, uses 303 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:25.960 pain to keep you from walking into a hidden trap. 304 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:30.400 He uses pain to protect you, to guard you and 305 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:34.519 protect you Joe thirty six, Verse sixteen, God has led 306 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:40.759 you away from danger, giving you freedom. Sometimes a pain 307 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:44.160 in one area keeps you from having even worse pain 308 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.440 in another area, where if you'd walked. 309 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.559 Into that it would have been a disaster. 310 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:55.000 Sometimes protects pain protects you from something worse, It prevents 311 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.720 you from greater harm. Sometimes pain is actually a blessing 312 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:04.079 in disguise. For instance, you get a fever. A fever 313 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.599 warns you of an infection or an inflammation that needs 314 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.880 to be dealt with. Sometimes a small pain in your 315 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:18.039 life can alert you to life threatening the illnesses. And 316 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.279 when you're pain in pain emotionally, you're sad, you're discouraged, 317 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.599 you're depressed, you're angry, you're upset, you're irritated, you're frustrated. 318 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.519 Any kind of emotional pain, painful emotions means something is 319 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:34.359 out of order in your relationship to God, or your 320 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:37.839 relationship to others, or your relationship to yourself. And so 321 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.440 sometimes God will allow pain to keep you from falling 322 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.880 off in the ditch. You know, the Bible says the 323 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.039 Lord is my shepherd. Shepherd's in the Middle East. Well, 324 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:51.920 sometimes if they've got a sheep that has a tendency 325 00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:55.160 to wander off, and if it wanders off from the flock, 326 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:57.319 it's going to get eaten by a wolf pretty quickly, 327 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:01.359 And so sometimes a shepherd will intend inntionally break the 328 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:05.240 leg of a lamb that is prone to wander, Why 329 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:09.559 keep it from getting in trouble. They're guarding that lamb. 330 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.200 They broke the leg to guard the lamb. They did 331 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:18.039 it for protection. They did it for protection. Do you 332 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:21.799 remember the story of Joseph, How everything in his life 333 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:24.319 for the first forty years, everything went wrong. He was 334 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.880 painfully mistreated for years. He was he went through all 335 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:34.480 kinds of injustice. He had racism, he had a family conflict, 336 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:37.480 he had all he had people accusing him of rape, 337 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:39.720 and all kinds of things that just were He was 338 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:44.000 thrown in prison for no reason, and he was painfully 339 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.880 mistreated for year after year after year. But God was 340 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:51.559 guarding and guiding and growing him and getting him ready 341 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:56.160 for greatness. And looking back later in Genesis fifty twenty, 342 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.839 Joseph says, this about all all the pain that had 343 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:02.880 happened in the first forty years of his life. You 344 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:05.839 talking to the people who had brought on the pain, 345 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.960 the people who sold them in slavery. You intended to 346 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:13.119 harm me, but God intended it for good. Now let 347 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.519 me tell you this, friends, there are people in your 348 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:17.880 life who want to harm you. They don't like you. 349 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:20.720 They don't like you because you're a Christian, or they 350 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.799 just don't like you. Whatever, they intend to harm you. 351 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.880 But God intends it for good. And I will tell 352 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.160 you that in justice. In Joseph's life, there is no 353 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.079 greatness without pain. 354 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:34.400 You know. 355 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:39.519 Later Joseph had two sons, and one he named Manassa 356 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:42.799 and one he named Ephraim. Manasa means made me forget. 357 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:45.799 He said, when that little boy was born, it made 358 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:48.680 me forget all my pain. And then he had Ephraim, 359 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:51.920 who he said, he is fruitful, and he forgot all 360 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.160 the pain when. 361 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:56.119 He looked at those little babies. Here's the problem. 362 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:01.519 We can't see what God sees because God can see 363 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:03.279 the whole picture, and we don't see it, so we 364 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.519 get impatient. But I want to encourage you to remember 365 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:09.559 this verse John thirteen, verse seven, where Jesus says this, 366 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:16.599 you don't realize now what I'm doing, but later you'll 367 00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:22.200 understand what an encouraging verse John thirteen seven. You don't 368 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.599 realize now what I'm doing, but later you understand. Many 369 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:30.519 times I have been through pain, and I not say that. 370 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.920 God was saying to me, Rick, you don't understand now 371 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.519 why you're going through this, but you will one day. 372 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:39.880 I want you to remember that God uses pain to 373 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.920 guide and direct, to guide and direct me, to go 374 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:49.880 and correct me, to gauge and inspect me, and to 375 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:54.720 guard and protect me. But there's one more way. God 376 00:21:54.839 --> 00:22:00.519 uses pain to grow and perfect me. I'd use this 377 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.000 pain to grow and perfect me. It's possible to grow 378 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.759 during times of bright fair weather, but you know what, 379 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:13.880 you put down the roots and you go deeper during 380 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:18.400 the dark days of life. I could read you one hundred, 381 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:22.160 maybe one thousand letters where people would say your pastor, 382 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:28.440 I have grown more through this separation than whatever. I 383 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:32.200 have grown more through this illness. I have grown more 384 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:36.160 through losing my job and being unemployed. I have grown 385 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.240 more through this tragedy than I ever imagined. I have 386 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.480 grown more through this loss. I have grown more through 387 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:49.240 this storm because God uses it to grow and perfect me. James, 388 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.599 Chapter one, verse four. For when the way is rough, 389 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:54.359 your patience has a chance to grow. So let it 390 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.519 grow and don't try to scorn them out of all 391 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:01.519 your problems. Then you'll be ready for anything, strong in character, 392 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.640 full and complete. My prayer for you is that you 393 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.839 will be ready for anything strong in character, full, and complete. 394 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:16.759 Pain is the high cost of growth. And it's cliche, 395 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.640 but it's true. There is no gain without pain. 396 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:20.880 You see. 397 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.519 The fact is we want the quick solution, We want 398 00:23:24.519 --> 00:23:27.640 the easy fix. We want the pill of the seminar 399 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:29.960 of the book that's going to change everything. Without pain, 400 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:34.640 it isn't going to happen. We want the product that's 401 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:40.880