The Power Of Pain

I recently watched a Nigerian movie and in the movie, the main character, who happened to be a young man, full of life and vigor, announced to his parents, who were stereotypically poor, that he had won a scholarship to a prestigious university abroad. The movie ended in a common cliche where after returning from his studies abroad, poverty was replaced by affluence and the young man was spoiled for choice on who to marry, because every girl was after him, of course he married the best and they lived happily ever after.

The common thought that flies through most individuals in developing nations is that if one got a chance to go abroad, and especially to western nations, they no longer will be associated with poverty, that poverty will be a by gone case. In reality life gets messed up at times. What we plan for at in most cases gets reversed and we end up in a worse state than we were at in the beginning or vice versa. There are people who left their countries in search of greener pastures abroad who are currently sleeping under bridges, no home, begging for food, desperate, ashamed and depressed. Who gets the blame in such a case? Statistics has it that most people blame God for their problems.


Can pain be beneficial to someone? Can going through a difficult situation be of help to anyone? With the current age of "name it and claim it" generation we have lost touch with the greatest virtue that early church and people of antiquity understood so well, that pain is what shaped great destinies. No one plans for a painful future. No one in their right minds desires to live in sickness in their later lives, none desires to lose their loved ones, yes, rarely will you find someones embracing pain wholeheartedly. It is human nature to run away from pain, why? I believe its because pain is painful.

(Click here to read about the meaning of death)

Let me share with you a true incident that happened sometime back, though not verbatim. There was once a family that found an opportunity to move abroad where the prospects were good. Their nation was struggling economically which posed a threat to their sustenance. The foreign nation that they went to was amazing, jobs were readily available, good living standards characterized by state catered healthcare facilities for all individuals, good roads and public utilities. Soon the family forgot about their sorrows back home, they were now thriving.

One day the father of the family got ill and shortly afterwards died. Luckily, by the time of his death, his two sons, the only children he had had graduated, gotten married and were employed by the government hence were well able to take care of their mother, who was advancing in age. As life would have it, soon afterwards, the two sons got involved in a grisly road accident which took their lives. They left behind two childless widows and their mother, all who were unemployed and totally depended on them. Family resources were soon depleted, poverty set in and the mother was in depression. Of course she shifted her blame to God, who else could she blame?

Things got really hard for the mother and her two daughters in-law, after going through tough economic situation she decided to go back home, her hopes of seeing grand children gone, all joy gone. She released her daughters in-law so that they could get married because they were still young. One of the women chose to stick with her through it all, she chose to suffer with the mother in-law who was depressed, who had no future, she did this in order to keep an eye on her mother in-law.

When they got back, things fell in place. Suddenly the young woman got a well paying job and was able to support her mother in-law. The family experienced a turn around and like a typical Nigerian movie the story ends up with the daughter in-law getting married to the most caring and rich man in the city and they lived happily ever after, leaving behind a great legacy, a trail of great grand children. She of course had a baby boy, whom they named Obed, who became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David. The daughter in-law who stood the test of time happens to be Ruth and her name is firmly written in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. This is a biblical narrative that is found in the book of Ruth.

When everything seemed to be going wrong with the family of Naomi God was setting her up for a major comeback. When she could not stop blaming God for her state of affairs, Isn't a wonder that God had her best interest at heart. Think of what people around her said during her most painful moment, how was she able to withstand all that?

The power of pain is that it makes you appreciate healing and recovery. Pain makes one understand the power and plan of God. Through pain we are able to see the sovereign plan of God on the affairs of man. Your perception of God, how you view God matters most during your time of pain. Your view of God will determine how bearable or unbearable the situation will be. In pain some come out strong and set examples for others yet there are those who come out bitter and with a bitter attitude towards God. Most of the people who renounce the existence of God do so because of pain.

Pain was what Jesus went through on the cross, it was painful for Christ to see God forsake him. Through his pain on the cross we now have victory over sin.Through pain we have victory over death because he triumphed it all. Christ went through pain so that we all could be reconciled back to God. If you are going through pain, may God give you the grace triumph over it, may you come out stronger as the risen Christ. Happy Easter.