Pain Is Not the End – Lessons Learned in Wilderness Times, part 4
Are you suffering from physical or emotional pain? This message helps us understand how the way of pain can bring forgiveness, grace, and abundant blessing for all. Plus, learn what you can do when you’re in pain.
Feeling alone, deserted, empty, or vulnerable? This could be described as a season of wilderness. A wilderness season of life is the place where we can grow spiritually and learn about ourselves and God Almighty through the testing of our faith. Wilderness times are often very difficult times and are not desirable. Times of trials, testing, and temptations. However, the wilderness can become a place where you grow spiritually and learn of God, as you seek to depend on the Lord. It is often a place where you will witness the hand of God in your life. It is a place where you learn about yourself. It is a place where you learn of God’s blessing and presence.
This series explores what a wilderness season is, why God allows these seasons, and what should you do when you are experiencing a severe wilderness season.
Pain In the Wilderness Seasons of Life Is Not the End
Wilderness seasons of life will occur, but when they do, always look for the grace of God. Know that wilderness seasons in life will have some pain, but pain is not always a death sentence.
Wilderness seasons are not easy. During wilderness seasons:
You may be tempted. You may fail at times but get back up and turn to the Lord.
Have patience and wait on the Lord. Allow for the Lord’s timing and do not be afraid.
Listen for the voice of the Lord. Stop and listen to the Lord. Be ready to hear his still small voice. The Lord may not speak to your soul in the manner he has in the past. Be ready to receive his word to your soul and then act upon it.
Choose each day to:
Look to the Lord.
Have the grace of God in your heart.
Live each day with the grace of God on your lips.
Live each day with the grace of God displayed by your actions.
And seek the Lord with all your heart, press in to know him for who he is, and he will direct your steps. Seek the Lord for who he is, the sovereign Lord and creator of the universe. Seek him every day along life’s journey.
When you choose to do these each day, you will never be disappointed. You will not be led astray. You will be blessed and never alone.
Wilderness seasons in life will often precede God’s blessing. Wilderness seasons involve testing and learning of oneself and of God’s faithfulness and his provision for those who seek and trust him.
I have shared how the grace of God is seen most clearly in the wilderness seasons of life. The first point we learned regarding wilderness seasons in life is that it is a time of testing. The second point regarding wilderness seasons in life is that we need to be patient and wait upon the Lord and for his timing. The third point is that we need to listen and be ready to hear the Lord’s still small voice. We should always listen and consider what the Spirit of God is saying and then act accordingly.
Never limit how and when the Lord might speak to you. To know God’s will and directions in every season of life we must learn to listen. We must learn to focus and be open to listening for the voice of God in every season of life. Especially in the wilderness season of life when things can appear dire, difficult, alone and when you are burdened with pain and the fear of being unsure regarding the future.
Do not ignore or run from pain. Seek the Lord in times of pain and suffering. Trust the Lord, and know he can use even your pain and suffering for your good and his glory.
The story of Joseph in Genesis 37 is a good place for us to consider how pain in the wilderness of life does not always end in death.
Pain in wilderness seasons of life can come in many different forms. Physical, emotional, relational, financial, untrue stories told by a friend can bring pain. Mistreatment or misunderstanding by family, friends, or anyone can be painful. Hunger, loneliness, a self-imposed emotional pain, or possibly a heavy burden of guilt, fear of what others might think can involve pain and appear unbearable at times.
Look for God and trust him, know he loves you with an everlasting love.
Pain comes in many different forms but not all pain is bad. Physical pain is often a warning sign of some kind. Some pain might mean something needs to change in your life. Pain can be the way of getting your attention and bring about a change of heart.
Pain can be God’s way to get you to focus on him rather than something else. Pain does not always mean something bad. It can be seen as a teaching moment. For some, the way of pain can bring forgiveness, grace, and abundant blessing for all.
The story of Joseph illustrates just that. Joseph learned that God used the pain and the evil intent of his brothers to save his family and accomplish good and the saving of many lives. Not just those alive then, but lives today, and of those not yet born.
‘But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt’ (Genesis 37:18-28, NIV).
Between Genesis chapters 37 and 50, Joseph experienced pain and times of suffering, but he trusted the Lord through it all.
‘But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them’ (Genesis 50:19-21).
Joseph had several dreams. Joseph's dreams did not address the pain he was about to experience. God was revealing to him what would happen much later in his life. Joseph did not know how to respond to these dreams, and he foolishly expressed his dreams to his brothers. Joseph's brothers, seeing their father's favor towards Joseph and Joseph's dream of them bowing before Joseph, was too much for them to take. So, they devised a plan to get rid of Joseph.
They sold Joseph into slavery. By doing so, they thought they would never see Joseph again.
No more dreams.
No more favored son.
No more stories about them bowing before Joseph.
What the brothers did not know is that God would use the pain and heartache that Joseph was about to experience for the glory of God and the saving of many lives, even their own.
Joseph was not the only one to experience pain because of his brothers' actions.
Jacob, Joseph's father, experienced the pain and sorrow of a lost son.
Joseph's brothers experienced the pain of guilt, along with fear years later of selling their brother into slavery, along with seeing the sorrow and pain that their father experienced.
Joseph's brothers lied and told their father, Jacob, that Joseph was dead. The entire family experienced pain for some time because of the actions of Joseph's brothers. However, God used the pain to bring about a great blessing.
God can use pain to accomplish his will. God can use the actions and selfish intent of others for good. Church, pain does not always lead to death in the end. Pain is never easy, anyway you look at it. Pain can lead to blessing, even eternal blessing in Christ the Lord. Look to the Lord. Understand his ways are higher than our ways.
‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Joseph's wilderness season of pain lasted for years. I can only guess the kind of emotional pain Joseph experienced.
Joseph must have experienced the pain:
Of being sold into slavery.
Caused by Potiphar's wife and her lies.
Of being in jail.
Of being forgotten in jail by the cup bearer whom Joseph helped.
Of being alone and feeling forgotten.
Of seeing his brothers later in life.
Of his brothers not realizing he was Joseph.
Of not seeing or knowing how his father and brother Benjamin are doing.
The pain could have caused Joseph to turn away from God. However, Joseph's faith in God remained strong.
Genesis 50 shows us that Joseph recognized the hand of God was on his life. Joseph realized God was with him all along his painful wilderness season of life. I'm not sure Joseph realized in his painful wilderness season that God was using his pain to bring about the saving of others. What we do know is that Joseph gives God the credit for his ability to interpret the dreams of the baker and cup bearer. Joseph remained faithful to God in every way. Joseph's faithfulness to God is the reason he was blessed, and those he served were blessed as well.
Understand that one day there will be no more pain, but until then, we might experience some pain and sorrow at times in our lives.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Yet, while we are here on earth and until Jesus returns, we will experience the pain of sin and death. Joseph's pain was caused by his brothers and others. The pain you may be experiencing can be a self-inflicted pain caused by some poor decision you once made. The pain may be due to a decision or action of another person. Don’t focus on the pain, focus on Jesus. Do not dismiss the pain, instead consider the purpose and look for the Lord to deliver you through the pain and into his glory for the blessing and saving of others; for you to see the faithfulness of God; and for you to grow in faith and become the person of God he desires you to be.
How you view pain and suffering matters. Resist viewing pain as being solely negative. Consider a wilderness season involving pain and sorrow as an opportunity to see the hand of God move in your life and the lives of others. Look to the Lord every step along the way and ask the Lord for the grace of God to help you. As believers, let your faith in Christ direct your heart and life.
Let your faith in Christ direct you regarding how you live and how you view wilderness seasons and pain as Paul did.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:1-6).
As believers, we can have the peace of God, even in times of pain and suffering when we choose to remain faithful, knowing Jesus is Lord and savior. Know your hope in Jesus and in the glory of God. Know that through it all you are not alone, in your pain and seemingly powerless state. I challenge you to look past the physical and emotional pain and sorrow. Look past the suffering and consider what the Lord is doing and is wanting to do in you and in those surrounding you.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
KJV says it this way:
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, KJV).
Paul is telling us that even in our affliction and pain the Lord can use it to bring about something great. It starts with how we view the Lord and the pain we are experiencing.
A blank canvas is worthless, however, to the painter who knows what he wants to paint, the blank canvas is the beginning of something great. The painting would never have been created without first the blank canvas. To the ordinary person, they cannot see what the painter had in mind, but in the painter’s mind and heart, he sees his work complete. It is only when the artist is finished that others will see and know what the artist had in mind and planned all along.
I have an adult son who is creative. He designed a few things for a previous church's children's program that I could not envision at the time. He created a mountain out of paper and a flowing fountain with some paper, a plastic tarp, some wooden sticks, and a small pump.
People have created masterpiece sculptures out of clay or other materials. They viewed the finished piece in their minds when others could not even conceive the finished sculpture. The clay or starting material needed to be worked on. It may need to be softened and made pliable at first. It will need to be molded. Some of the material will need to be removed to achieve the shape the creator desires. If the clay or material could feel pain or talk, I’m sure it might argue with the designer. That is, until the designer/creator is finished.
Have you ever witnessed a chalk talk message? The artist begins with a few strokes of lines on a canvas and it is not until much later, close to the end of the talk that the audience begins to see the masterpiece the artist created.
As a child, do you remember tying a piece of string and two cans on each end? You could hear the other person say a few words. Now we have phones that are wireless. Phones you can talk, send videos and text at the same time. Who would have thought? But someone did.
Margaret and I watched a portion of a Green Acres TV show. The invention on the show was a wristwatch that you can watch movies on. The audience laughed. Some of you may have that type of watch on your wrist this morning.
You may not think God knows what he is doing. But he does. The Lord sees you, the believer, as sinless through the blood of Christ. While you may see yourself as a work in progress and experience the pain of being molded into the image of Christ, trust the Lord in your painful seasons of life.
What are some examples of trusting God during difficult seasons?
All that Joseph experienced, from being sold into slavery by his brothers to being falsely accused and imprisoned, did not deter him from remaining faithful to God. Despite his circumstances, Joseph was blessed in the places he served and was given the gift of interpreting dreams. These experiences prepared him to fulfill God's purpose for his life, which was to save others.
Job, too, endured pain and suffering without deserving it. He lost everything and even faced discouragement from his wife and friends. Nevertheless, Job remained faithful and was ultimately blessed.
Paul and other individuals in scripture also experienced trouble, pain, and even death. Yet, they trusted in the Lord, shared the Gospel message, and as a result, millions of believers today are blessed and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. All this was done for the purpose of saving others.
God does not waste wilderness seasons in people’s lives. The drug addict who comes to Christ can speak into other drug addict’s life about Jesus. The sinner, saved by the grace of God has a testimony that no one can deny.
Jesus spoke to an adulteress woman accused of adultery in John 8:
‘Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”’ (John 8:10-11, NIV).
Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman, and she believes Jesus is the Messiah. She runs and tells the townspeople, and after hearing her and the words of Jesus, they believe. The pain of being an outcast is gone, and each one is blessed and saved.
‘The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”’ (John 4:25-26).
‘Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42).
Joseph knew all he experienced was for a purpose, even if he did not know at the time he experienced pain.
Choose to look past the pain and to the Lord. Know without a doubt that God is in control. The way through the wilderness season of life may have some pain, but God will use it for good. Both for your good and the saving of others.
Joseph's brothers were fearful of Joseph after their father died. In Genesis 50:19-21, we can read that Joseph understood why he experienced his painful years.
‘But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them’ (Genesis 50:19-21).
The wilderness seasons in life are not to harm you. The pain and suffering you may experience should not be viewed as negative or a reason to run from God. Look to the Lord. Allow faith to arise.
Learn to be patient, listen for God’s voice, and trust his timing. He loves you with an everlasting love. His plan is not to harm you but to bless you.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).
When the Israelites experienced the pain and suffering of the bondage in Egypt, it was to build them into a great nation. Later in the wilderness desert, the wilderness season was a time of learning and trusting the Lord. It was a time of learning God's faithfulness and provisions.
In the wilderness season of life, trust the Lord. Look for his provision and faithfulness along the way. Listen for his voice and directions.
‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity”’ (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
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Genesis 37:2-4, 50:18-21: Learn how to live with integrity and see past your circumstances. God will use you if you let Him. Like a spiritual marathon runner, keep the faith and see the hand of God in your life.