I Don’t Want to Hurt Anymore
Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
Acts 28:3-5 (NIV)
Pain is inevitable. But just because you’re hurt doesn’t mean you have to give the rest of your life to suffering.
You can’t prevent a viper from fastening itself to you, its fangs attaching to your life and pushing out venom. You can’t prevent these terrible life experiences. But you don’t have to live your life suffering from what you have gone through. You can shake it off.
Paul gets a revelation, a disclosure. God tells him that he’s going to stand and represent God’s kingdom in front of Caesar. God makes that promise. It’s Paul’s assignment.
So when he gets bitten by a poisonous viper, he shakes the viper off. The viper can’t take him out because he hasn’t testified in front of Caesar yet. Until or unless he stands in front of Caesar and tells him what the Lord told him to say, no bite or painful experience can do more than cause temporary discomfort.
So don’t talk about your pain. Talk about your purpose.
You might have pain, but you also have an assignment. If you live life destined and determined by the will of God, if you live your life under sovereign providence, then what happens to you has to submit to God’s will for you. What covers you after deep pain is purpose. When purpose is the filter that you use to make sense out of what is attempting to cause you harm, you can instead try to figure out how God is moving and why.
An Act of Acknowledgement
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 14:18-20 (NIV)
Abram gave ten percent of everything he had of his possessions to make one declarative, bold statement: I’m only here because God made a way for me.
God provided strength and strategy. God provided people and power. God provided might and motivation. God’s provisions brought the victory.
Abram gives because, apparently, he believes that when God provides, there has to be an offering. He doesn’t see money or possessions as disconnected from how he acknowledges his testimony.
God gives, God empowers, God motivates, God inspires. God provides, you benefit, and you demonstrate that with an offering because money is one of the ways God has provided for you. So you then acknowledge God with your resources. We can’t live blessed by a gracious God and not acknowledge that it is way more than any of us deserves.
Money management is closely connected to carrying a spiritual conviction about where your life and resources really come from. Giving, money management, generosity in every way, shape, and form are all connected to carrying a clear spiritual discernment, conviction, and understanding that your life and all of its strengths are really nothing more than a testimony to the provision of a beneficent God.
We honor God by giving of what we have because we acknowledge that God provided everything in our lives.
An Expected Future
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 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 (NIV)
The short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. All of our troubles are overwhelming to us unless they are compared to the only truth that puts them in the proper perspective:
Our troubles are lightweight. They’re momentary. That stuff that’s keeping you up all night? That’s lightweight stuff. It is momentary if you compare it to the weight of God’s glory right now.
- Right now we are the target of the enemy, but right now we are also honored by God.
- Right now we are the central focus of spiritual attack, but right now we are also the central focus of divine embrace.
- Right now, we are culturally hated and despised, but right now we are beloved—and when you weigh one versus the other, there is no comparison
What is the Bible’s answer to the uncertainty of this present reality? Here’s the answer:
Live, child of God, in the power of your certain future. We have no reason to despair despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying. Our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day.
So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes because all of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on things we cannot see, which live on and on. In fact, heaven and earth shall pass away, but His Word shall abide forever.
The very mention of a promised future is the revelation that the present reality is not the end.
It is but a passage, a gateway to what He invites us to live with, which is an expected future.
Mission Critical
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
Matthew 10:5-8 (NIV)
In today’s times, how will oppressive forces be responded to? How do we change people, and how do we affect them so that they will see the value of surrendering to the coming of the kingdom of God? We do so by accepting a mission.
Jesus tells His disciples: Preach the message of the kingdom. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. And do these with devoted and obedient reliance on God for all your needs.
What do we do to change what appears to be the spiraling integrity of a culture?
Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Instead, go to the lost, the confused, and the people right in your neighborhood and help them to understand Jesus first. And when you engage them, tell them the kingdom of God is here.
It starts with understanding who the Lord has made you to be. The Lord has made you more than a disciple. You, child of God, can’t spend your whole life as just a learner, but you must be empowered to also be a messenger.
We are to announce that the kingdom of God is near, and we are to make sure that God is in every conversation. Whatever else you talk about while engaging in conversation, it is your job to make sure that the conversation doesn’t end without Jesus coming up. Insert Jesus in there somewhere, because the only way you change culture is to restore Jesus’s supremacy in the culture, one conversation at a time.
Thinking About Hurt Spiritually
Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
1 Samuel 1:19-20 (NIV)
God permits Hannah to experience excruciating pain to help the nation progress.
Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, has children while Hannah remains childless. Peninnah is petty and torments Hannah about her childlessness. Peninnah provokes Hannah annually during family worship trips. Elkanah gives Hannah a double portion, acknowledging her pain, but it’s not the solution. Elkanah doesn’t understand Hannah’s distress.
Hannah’s hurt drives her to pray at church. Hannah’s deep hurt leaves her with nothing to pray about except her pain. Hannah prays for a child, silently, catching the attention of Eli. Eli discerns Hannah’s prayer and assures her that God will grant her request.
Hannah must believe in God despite no visible evidence. Hannah’s pain is allowed by God to birth Samuel, a significant prophet. Samuel bridges the judges’ period to the monarchy, anointing Saul and David. Samuel impacts God’s people forever.
Hannah’s hurt is part of her ministry to fulfill God’s will. God allows Hannah’s deep hurt to shape her for her role. God uses hurt as a tool to accomplish His will.
We should view our hurts spiritually, as unavoidable and part of God’s plan. Processing hurt spiritually prevents resentment and aligns us with God’s purposes. God’s sovereignty incorporates our hurts into His will. Hannah teaches us to think spiritually about hurt and not settle for mere signs.
Hurt is an indicator of needed change, not a permanent state. Hurt signals a need for intervention, growth, or surrender. Pain can inspire praise because it signals a coming change.
Hannah never blames God but prays instead. Hannah trusts God to address her pain without accepting blame herself. The key theological question in suffering is about God’s nature, not His actions. Hannah must not settle for signs but pursue God’s ultimate purpose. Signs are tools of encouragement, not endpoints, in God’s plan.
