Pain (Hearing God's Voice)
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation… In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
~Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
James 1:2–4 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
John 16:33b NLT
“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.”
1. Through Pain God Speaks to the Source of Our Joy
James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
2. Through Pain God Speaks to Us of Our Need for One Another
James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds
3. Through Pain God Speaks to Our Hearts What We Know in Our Heads
James 1:3 ESV
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Hebrews 13:5b
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Psalm 34:18 ESV
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
4. Through Pain God Speaks to the Need for Our Faith to Grow
James 1:3 ESV
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
5. Through Pain God Speaks to His Faithfulness
James 1:4 ESV
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:4 NIV
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
