Enduring Pain and Hardships

There is something deeply human about pain. We spend much of our lives trying to avoid it, ignore it, numb it, or make sense of it. To understand this, consider the rare birth condition known as “congenital insensitivity to pain” (CIP).

Approximately 1 in 125 million newborns are born with CIP and cannot feel physical pain. At first glance, this might seem like a blessing: no discomfort, no agony, no distress. However, in reality, it is incredibly dangerous. Pain is the body’s warning system. Without it, injuries go unnoticed, infections spread, and harm multiplies silently. What appears to be freedom from pain is actually vulnerability to greater damage.

In a similar way, spiritual and emotional pain in our lives serves a purpose. It alerts us, shapes us, and is designed to draw us closer to God. Without it, we might drift, unaware of deeper issues within us and our need for God’s presence in our lives.

The Apostle Paul echoes this truth in 2 Thessalonians 1:4:

“We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.”

Don’t miss that.

Notice what is being celebrated: not comfort, but endurance; not ease, but faithfulness. Pain has a way of sharpening our awareness of God’s voice. In seasons of comfort, it is easy for us to become self-reliant. But in pain and hardship, we listen more closely. We pray more earnestly. We depend more fully. The days of pain often become the days of deepest intimacy with God.

Listen closely: I don’t know what pain or hardship you are enduring today. Maybe the sudden loss of a parent, spouse, child, or job. Maybe a divorce, a terminal disease, a wayward child, or a broken relationship.

Ignoring God during suffering is like ignoring pain in the body; it leads to deeper harm. However, leaning in, listening, and trusting God in the midst of your pain transforms suffering into something meaningful. It becomes a place where faith is refined, character is strengthened, and Christ is made known in you and through you.

When pain comes, and it will, whether through hardship, loss, or persecution, do not rush to silence it. Let it speak. Let it lead you to intimacy with God. Listen carefully in those moments, because God often speaks most clearly in the valleys.

C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pain.”

Pain is not the absence of God. Most often, it is the very place where His presence becomes most real.