WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.639 Hello, everybody, and what a historic weekend this is as 2 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.080 we move back into the new, remodeled worship center at 3 00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:13.720 Lake Forest nearly two years after the pandemic started. I 4 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:15.880 want to thank you again everybody for your prayers as 5 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:19.079 I'm recovering from two surgeries, and while I'm not yet 6 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:23.120 able to stand and teach every service yet, I'm going 7 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.239 to be at all the services of our Lake Forest 8 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.000 campus this weekend. Now today, I want us to continue 9 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.600 with part two of our series on pain. Where is 10 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:35.119 God When it hurts? I've been thinking a lot about 11 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.280 pain in the last month, and I thought i'd just 12 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.280 share with you what I've learned about pain from God's word. 13 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:42.600 One of the most common questions I'm asked as a 14 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:47.640 pastor is this, if God is good, if God's good God, 15 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.039 why is there so much pain in the world. Now, 16 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.799 that's not exactly a new question. In fact, thousands of 17 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.679 years ago, Solomon asked this question in the Bible in Ecclesiastes, 18 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.240 chapter two, I think it's verse twenty two and twenty 19 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.640 twenty three. He says this, So what do people get 20 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:07.040 for all their hard work and struggles on earth? Their 21 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.840 lives are filled with pain? And their work is filled 22 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:15.560 with grief. Even at night, their minds don't rest. It 23 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:20.159 doesn't make sense at all. Now, if you're taking notes, 24 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:21.840 I hope you took out the message notes, and if 25 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:24.840 you're watching online, you can download the teaching notes. Right now, 26 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.040 I want you to underline the phrase their lives are 27 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.439 filled with pain, just to underline that their lives are 28 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:36.040 filled with pain. Having traveled literally all around the world, 29 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.760 and I've seen many of the poor situations, and been 30 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:42.760 in the worst disaster areas, and have council thousands of 31 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.640 people in pain, I can tell you this much. This 32 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:51.040 verse sums up what much of the world feels. Every 33 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.599 day is a day of pain for most of the 34 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:58.920 people in the world. Why, well, we'll be honest with you. 35 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.239 I don't know all the reasons there's pain in the world. 36 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.959 It's on my list of questions to ask God when 37 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:09.560 I get to heaven. But I do know some reasons. 38 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:14.080 The first big reason is we often experience pain because 39 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:18.080 God gave us the freedom of choice, the freedom to 40 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:20.800 make choices, the freedom to choose between right and wrong, 41 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.400 good and bad. That's not only our greatest blessing, it's 42 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:29.280 also our greatest liability too, because we often make poor choices, 43 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.240 and when we make poor choices, we hurt ourselves and 44 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:38.159 we heard others. Now, God could easily wipe out all 45 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.639 of the pain in the world by simply eliminating evil. 46 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:45.000 But if he did that, he'd have to wipe us 47 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.800 out too, because every one of us have acted in 48 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.719 evil ways. We act in selfish and self absorbed and 49 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:55.159 self centered rebellion against God literally every day of our lives. 50 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.080 So there was no pain in the world until sin 51 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.560 entered the world. It broke everything, and along with it 52 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.680 came pain. There was no pain in the garden of Eden. Yes, 53 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:09.879 God could eliminate all the hurt and all the pain 54 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:13.319 in the world by simply removing our freedom to make 55 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:14.120 bad choices. 56 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.319 But you know then we wouldn't be people anymore. We'd 57 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:20.360 be puppets. 58 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.000 Now, in part one of this series, I gave you 59 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.960 a practical definition of pain, and I said, this pain 60 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:33.639 is a warning light that something is wrong. Pain is 61 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.280 a warning light that something is wrong. And if we 62 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.919 didn't have that warning light, we would often continue in 63 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.080 the wrong direction and continue to hurt ourselves. For instance, 64 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:47.280 if you didn't feel pain when you touched a hot stove. 65 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.879 Then you wouldn't know to remove your hand and it 66 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.120 would probably just burn up and you could lose your 67 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.360 hand without even knowing it if you didn't have pain sensations. 68 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.759 Pain says stop it, Pain says don't do this. Pain 69 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.879 is a warning sign. Now, last week, in part one, 70 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:10.800 I shared from God's word five ways that God tells 71 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.840 us how he can use pain in our lives for good. 72 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.600 He can use it for a good purpose. And if 73 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:20.240 you miss that message, I want to ask you to 74 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.319 go back and watch it online either at saddleback dot 75 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.519 com or pastorick dot com because it's half of what 76 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:31.199 I'm teaching you on the meaning of pain. Part one 77 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.759 we looked at how God uses pain for good five 78 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.680 ways in your life, and I'm not going to cover 79 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.639 that again, but today in part two, I want to 80 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.480 share how you can benefit from pain by the choices 81 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:49.839 that you make by choosing the way you respond to pain. See, 82 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:51.800 God says I can bring good out of it by 83 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.279 doing these things, and he gives us five good reasons. 84 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.439 And he also says, here are five choices that you 85 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:04.399 can make that will help pain be beneficial in your life. Now, 86 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:09.240 in that first message, I pointed out that pain is inevitable. Okay, 87 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:12.439 it's inevitable, It is not optional. You can't opt out 88 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:16.800 of it. Nobody gets to go through life pain free. Now, 89 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:18.759 when I talk about pain, we're not just talking about 90 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.800 physical pain, like the kind I've been going through for 91 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.319 the last month. But we're talking about every kind of pain, 92 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.959 emotional pain, mental pain, of relational pain, for spiritual pain, 93 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:37.639 financial pain, vocational pain, pain at work. Because we live 94 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:42.000 in a broken world where nothing works, nothing works perfectly, 95 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.120 everything's broken, then pain is inevitable. But as I said 96 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:51.600 last week, pain is inevitable, misery is optional. That's choice, 97 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:55.120 because you do have choices that you can make. You 98 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:58.839 can choose how you're going to respond to pain. And 99 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.399 that's part of being a huge that's part of being 100 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:03.480 made in the image of God. That's part of the gift. 101 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.800 The downside is we have pain. The upside is God 102 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.319 says you get to choose what you do with it, 103 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:09.959 and you can actually use it for good in your 104 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.439 own life if you'll let me do what I want 105 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:16.079 to do and if you'll make the right kind of choices. Now, 106 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.240 because we have that ability, what it means is this, 107 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:22.240 this is what I want to talk about today. We 108 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.040 don't have to waste our pain. We don't have to 109 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:28.160 waste our pain. God doesn't want you to waste any 110 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.480 of the pain. You're going to go through pain, whether 111 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.240 you waste it or not, but you may as well 112 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:35.879 use it for good. You can benefit from it, and 113 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.240 through the choices that we make, we can come out 114 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:46.360 on the other side of pain being better, not merely bitter. Now, 115 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.360 I've done a lot of study in pain over the decades, 116 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:54.439 and I've seen many, many scientific studies that have documented 117 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:59.399 the fact that human beings are able to handle enormous 118 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:03.040 amounts of pain. If here's the if, the big if. 119 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:07.480 If we know there's a good purpose behind it, there's 120 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.759 a good purpose for our pain, and then we can 121 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.360 benefit from the pain. But if we don't make the 122 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:18.959 right choices, the pain in our lives ends up being worthless. 123 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:24.519 It ends up being wasted, it ends up being pointless. 124 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:29.839 It is pain without any purpose, and pain without purpose, 125 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:37.000 pointless pain, arbitrary pain, unexplained, irrational, not benefiting from it. 126 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:37.319 Pain. 127 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:43.800 That's the kind of pain that's unbearable and intolerable, and 128 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.879 it drives us to despair. On the other hand. When 129 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.680 you know there's a purpose, you can handle an enormous 130 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:56.160 amount of pain. Every mother knows that giving birth is painful. 131 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.439 If you want to ask mom after the service, go 132 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.360 right ahead. It's why if they call it labor. But 133 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:09.360 mothers willingly go through that pain, the pain of labor, 134 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:11.079 for a purpose that's greater than the pain. 135 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.319 And what is that purpose? To bring forth life? 136 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.839 Now, if I were able to ask all of you 137 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.680 moms who are watching right now, how many of you 138 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.959 would say that the pain of childbirth was worth it 139 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.040 your all your hands would go up. And if I 140 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.399 asked how many of you would want to experience that 141 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.039 pain for no purpose at all, no hand. 142 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:33.519 Would go up. 143 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:39.639 Okay, I recently agreed to a very painful surgery and 144 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.360 recovery because I believed that the purpose of the surgery 145 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.200 was worth the pain. Now here's the point that I'm 146 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.679 trying to make. No matter what kind of pain you're 147 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:52.240 going through right now, you're going to be far better 148 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:54.799 prepared to handle it and cope with it if you 149 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:57.879 focus on what I'm about to share with you, the 150 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.159 five possible purposes for your pain. Now, I shared that 151 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.240 last week God's five purposes for your pain and the 152 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.600 five potential benefits of your pain that I want to 153 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:11.279 share with you today. Now we're going to begin with 154 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:15.200 Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. It's one of the great, 155 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.080 most famous verses in the Bible, one of the great 156 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.000 promises of the Bible. In Romans eight twenty eight, you've 157 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:26.120 got this memorized. We know that in all things, God 158 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:28.879 works for the good of those who love Him, who've 159 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.360 been called according to his purpose. Now look at let's 160 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.200 hold it there for just a minute. Look at that verse. 161 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:38.919 We know that in all things, not some things. All 162 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.159 that means even the painful things, God works. Doesn't say 163 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.159 all things are good, doesn't say all things are pleasant. 164 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:48.480 God works for those who love Him who've been called 165 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.679 according to his purpose. And it only makes sense when 166 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:57.600 you understand the purpose. What I want to share with 167 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.240 you this weekend is this that you're going through, whatever 168 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.720 you're going through right now, at work, at home, in 169 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.120 your body, in your mind, in your relationships, pain can 170 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:12.559 be managed by purpose, Pain can be managed on purpose, 171 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.759 and pain can be managed for a purpose. Now, if 172 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:20.360 you've read the Purpose Driven Life Book, you know that 173 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.879 the Bible tells us that God has five purposes. 174 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.080 For your life. 175 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:30.519 And these five purposes are repeated and they are reinforced 176 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:35.440 hundreds of time in the scripture. It's not like God's 177 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:37.559 hidden this out and only put it in one place. 178 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:40.519 At scripture. God has five purposes for your life. Let's 179 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:44.120 review it. Number one. God's first purpose for your life 180 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.519 is to know and love Him, to get to know 181 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:49.840 and love him. He gave you the capacity to know 182 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:53.240 and love him. You are planned for God's pleasure. You 183 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:56.360 were made to be loved by God. You're created as 184 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:59.200 an object of God to be loved by God. God 185 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.200 knows everything about you and loves you. He wants you 186 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:03.320 to know and love him back by the way that's 187 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:08.639 called worship. Worship is getting to know and loving God. 188 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:11.919 The second purpose of your life is to learn to 189 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:16.320 love other people. You are formed for God's family. We 190 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.639 call that fellowship. God says, I don't want you to 191 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:20.600 just love me. I want you to learn to love 192 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:24.360 other people as well. This is the great commandment. Love 193 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.399 God with all your heart. Worship, love your neighbors, yourself fellowship. 194 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:31.879 The third purpose for your life is to grow up 195 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:36.320 spiritually like Christ. You were created to become like Christ. 196 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:38.600 You're born again. But God doesn't want you to stay 197 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:40.799 a baby. He wants you to grow up spiritually and 198 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:44.240 be like your older brother Jesus Christ. You're created to 199 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:48.159 become like him. We call that discipleship. That's the third purpose. 200 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:50.639 To know and love Christ, to learn to love his 201 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.480 family and other people, to grow in Christ in character. 202 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:57.320 The fourth purpose of your life is to use the 203 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:00.559 talents that God put in you to serve others. You 204 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:04.759 are shaped for service. You are made for a ministry. 205 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.320 This is called your ministry and it's the fourth purpose 206 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.360 of your life. God didn't put you on earth just 207 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:13.600 to suck up air and live for yourself. He wants 208 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.039 you to make a contribution with your life in this world. 209 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.039 He wants you to leave the world a better place. 210 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:20.720 He wants you to make a difference in your part 211 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.159 of the world. And the fifth purpose for your life 212 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.159 is to share your life message with others. Part of 213 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:30.440 that life message we all share in common. It's called 214 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:33.000 the good News. But part of your life message is 215 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.840 the message that God has given you about what you've 216 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:40.759 learned through pain, what you've learned through experiences. You are 217 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.879 made for a mission. This is called witness. So whether 218 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.639 we call it worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and witness, or 219 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:50.879 whether we call it know in Christ, growing in Christ, 220 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:55.679 serving Christ, sharing Christ, you know, growing in Christ, loving 221 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:00.279 Christ's family. It's all the same five purposes. Now, that's 222 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.480 all review. If you've been around saddleback, we've covered that many, many, 223 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.159 many times. But what many people don't understand is this, 224 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:11.960 and I want you to get this. Are you ready? 225 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:18.240 God uses pain to help us fulfill all five of 226 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:25.480 those life purposes, every one of those purposes, worship, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, evangelism, outreach, 227 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:29.840 whatever you call it. God uses pain to help you 228 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.840 fulfill each of your life purposes. Now, sadly, most people 229 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:39.279 don't know this. Most people waste their suffering. They don't 230 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:43.159 profit from their problems. They don't learn from their losses. 231 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.759 They don't harvest their hurts. They don't improve from their injuries, 232 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:54.200 they don't advance from their adversity. They don't gain from 233 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.639 their pain. And this is why Saint Paul asked the 234 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.919 question in Galatians three, verse four, your outline? Have you 235 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.919 gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all 236 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.200 really for nothing? Now let me review you again. You're 237 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.759 gonna have pain in your life. The issue is are 238 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.519 you gonna waste it? Let me ask you, up to 239 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.440 this point in your life, have you wasted the pain 240 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:19.480 in your life? 241 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:20.960 He said, well, I don't know. I may have. 242 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:25.039 Well, it's not too late to start benefiting. You're not 243 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:27.360 through with pain. You're gonna have pain in the future 244 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:29.799 in your life, so it's not too late to start 245 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:33.679 benefiting from it. So today, let's look at five ways 246 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:38.679 to benefit from any kind of pain, emotional, relational. All 247 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.279 of these different or physical, And these are choices or 248 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.480 actions that you can take, and they're all found right 249 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.799 here in God's word. All right, you're taking notes. Here's 250 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:53.559 the five ways you can benefit from your own pain 251 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:59.679 if you'll make these choices. Number one, use my pain 252 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:05.559 to draw closer to God in worship. Use my pain 253 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:11.159 to draw closer to God in worship. Now you know 254 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:14.639 that when anything happens painful in your life, you've got 255 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.000 a choice. You can run to God or you can 256 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.080 run from God. And you know what I've noticed in life, 257 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:24.440 about half people do both. Half people run toward God 258 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.919 when they're in pain, and about half people run away 259 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.360 from God in pain. Now, the second way never seem 260 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:30.919 to make sense, because how are you going to get 261 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:36.000 any comfort when you're running from God. You know that 262 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.559 when you're in pain, your prayers get more real, your 263 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:44.120 worship gets more real, your your heart gets more tender. Personally, 264 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:48.840 I've spent more time alone with God in the years 265 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:54.360 since my young son, my youngest son died by taking 266 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:58.639 his life than in all the previous years, because in 267 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:02.480 the grief of that law, what kept me going through 268 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:06.279 all my painful days it was time alone with God. 269 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.919 So you can use your pain to draw closer to 270 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:14.399 God in worship. How do you do that? Well, here's 271 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:16.679 what you do. You don't tell them what you think 272 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.120 you ought to say. You tell them exactly how you feel. 273 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:22.360 You cry out to God when you're in pain. God, 274 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:26.039 I'm in pain. You argue with God, God, I don't 275 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:31.360 like this pain. You tell God you lament. One third 276 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.120 of the psalms, fifty of one hundred and fifty psalms 277 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.559 are psalms of lament. They're crying out to God, They're 278 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.159 arguing in God. Did you know that complaining to God 279 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:44.360 is an act of worship. You can worship in all 280 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:48.279 the phases of grief. You can express your shock. You 281 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.919 can unload your sorrow. You can share your struggle, what 282 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:56.159 you're feeling with the pain you're feeling. You can surrender yourself. 283 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.519 You can ask God to use the pain for good 284 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.080 in your life. Paul does this in Second Corinthians, chapter one, 285 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.720 verse eight to ten. He says, when we were crushed 286 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.759 and overwhelmed, and we saw how powerless we were to 287 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:11.720 help ourselves, said, even that was good for then we 288 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:14.319 put everything into the hands of God, who alone could 289 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.200 save us, and He did help us. When I'm in pain, 290 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.160 it's a time for me to draw closer to God, 291 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.279 not further a way. It's a time for me to 292 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:27.200 trust God more, to worship God, more, to turn to God, more, 293 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:33.319 to surrender to God more. When Matthew died, our family 294 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:37.279 did a family surrender to God retreat. Yeah, we went 295 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:43.039 over to Ranchi Caapistrano and did a day retreat on 296 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:47.720 surrendering to God the pain that we were in. I 297 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:52.400 could give you, friends, thousands, thousands of saddleback stories of 298 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.880 people who came to know Jesus out of their pain 299 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:00.759 or their lives were totally transformed in the process of 300 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:05.440 worshiping when they were in pain. I'm sure many of 301 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:09.160 you could say pain turned me to Christ. And if 302 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.240 you can say that, I say, like Paul and Second 303 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.839 Corinthian seven to nine, I'm glad not because it hurts you, 304 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:18.640 because the pain turns you to God. So the first 305 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.720 thing we do in pain is we don't run from God. 306 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:24.359 We run to him. We turn to God in our pain. 307 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.200 We let it draw us closer to God, to trust 308 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.319 him more, to worship more, to know him and love 309 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.000 him more. Number two, the second purpose of your life 310 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:37.240 is fellowship learning to love other people. And you can 311 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:41.440 do this. Number two, Use my pain to draw closer 312 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:46.519 to others in fellowship. Use my pain to draw closer 313 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:50.759 to others in fellowship. If you will allow it, pain 314 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.880 will deepen your love. Pain will mature your love because 315 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:00.279 suffering sensitizes you. I have seen pain turn the most 316 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:06.240 self centered people in the sympathetic people. When Matthew died, 317 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:10.799 Kay and I knew the statistics that couples that have 318 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:13.799 a child die nearly a third of those marriages end 319 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.400 up splitting up with the death of a child because 320 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.400 people grieve in different ways and they don't know how 321 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.160 to handle it. But Kay and I have actually grown 322 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:25.559 closer together since the death of our youngest child. I'm 323 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:27.920 more in love with my wife than I was when 324 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:30.640 I met her fifty years ago. You can believe that 325 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.039 she was two years old fifty years ago. 326 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:34.200 You know. 327 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.880 I asked, Kay, why do you think we made it 328 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:42.799 when we are so absolutely different in every. 329 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:42.640 Cell of our bodies. 330 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.519 I was hoping she'd say, because you're so nice to me, 331 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.799 But that's not what she said. She said, because we 332 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.319 intentionally worked at strengthening it, and we gave each other grace. 333 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:58.640 Pain will draw you closer to other people if you'll 334 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.720 be honest to God, honestly yourself, and honest with others. 335 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:03.759 Pain. 336 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:06.640 When you're in a small group and you take a 337 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:10.599 risk to share where you're in pain, it takes the 338 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:13.799 level of fellowship to the deepest level. There are four 339 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:17.279 levels of fellowship in a small group. There's the fellowship 340 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:21.319 of sharing. Hey, how about them Chargers, how about them rams? 341 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:25.640 That's sharing, it's what's going on in your life. That's okay. 342 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.559 It's the shallowest level, but it's okay. There's nothing wrong 343 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:32.240 with sharing fellowship. But then the deeper level is studying. 344 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:35.480 That's studying the word together is a deeper level of 345 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:38.880 fellowship when we actually serve together. We do a project 346 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.000 together as a small group that takes our fellowship even deeper. 347 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.880 Our small group went to Rwanda one time. We've done 348 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:49.079 lots of different projects together in serving together. But the 349 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.400 deepest level of fellowship of all, it's what the Bible 350 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:53.920 calls the fellowship of suffering. 351 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:56.000 Suffering together. 352 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.160 Glatians six to two says, by helping each other with 353 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:04.000 your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ. By 354 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:07.319 helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the 355 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:09.640 law Christ. What's the law Christ? Love your neighbors, yourself. 356 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:13.960 The deepest love, true fellowship shows up when people are 357 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:16.480 in pain. That's why you're going to have to use 358 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.440 your pain, and you're going to have to enter into 359 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:23.079 other people's pain to understand what real connection, what real quintinia, 360 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:25.319 what real fellowship, what real. 361 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.119 Belonging is all about. 362 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:30.440 There's a third purpose in your life, and that's God 363 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.720 wants you to use your life to grow in Christ 364 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:36.400 in character. And here's the third way. You use pain. 365 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:43.519 Use pain to grow more like Jesus in discipleship. Use 366 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.680 pain to grow more like Jesus in discipleship. I grow 367 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:50.519 closer to Him in worship, I grow closer to others 368 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:56.359 in fellowship. I grow deeper in discipleship through pain. Every 369 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.000 pain in your life is an opportunity to grow in character. 370 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.440 Learn love when you feel unloved. How do you learn 371 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:04.440 joy in the middle of Greece? How do you learn 372 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.400 peace when everything's in chaos? How do you learn patience 373 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.839 when you're not feeling patient in the exact opposite situation. Again, 374 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:14.559 this is a choice. Am I going to be bitter 375 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.160 or better? Am I going to let this pain be 376 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:22.000 a stepping stone to maturity or a stumbling block to immaturity? 377 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:28.400 Spiritual growth is not automatic. And you I said this 378 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.319 last week. I've learned nothing from pleasure in my life. 379 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:33.880 Everything I've learned important in life, I learned the pain. 380 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.039 We looked at this verse last week Proverbs twenty thirty. 381 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:41.079 Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change 382 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:47.519 our ways. Now, once you're saved, God's number one purpose 383 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:51.400 in your life begins to be making you like Jesus Christ. 384 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.000 You're born into God's family. Now he wants you to 385 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:58.000 grow up. Now, here's the corollary to that. If God 386 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:00.279 wants to make me like Jesus. That's his gold for 387 00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:03.240 my life. How does God make me like Jesus? The 388 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:08.640 answer is this, by taking you through everything Jesus went through. Hello, 389 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:11.480 were there times when Jesus was lonely? 390 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:11.920 Yes? 391 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:16.759 Where the times when Jesus was frustrated? Yes, misunderstood, yes, criticized. Yes, 392 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.079 there were there times when Jesus was in pain. 393 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:19.519 Yes. 394 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.039 Look at these next two verses on your outline Hebrews 395 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:26.279 five eight. So even though Jesus was God's son, he 396 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:30.279 learned obedience from the things he suffered. If Jesus learned 397 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:32.400 obedience from suffering, how do you think you're going to 398 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:39.079 learn it? Hebrews five nine says suffering made Jesus perfect, 399 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:43.319 and now he can say forever all who obey him. 400 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.559 If Jesus was made perfect through suffering, how do you 401 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:47.839