Why Pain Keeps You from Greater Harm

[Why Pain Keeps You from Greater Harm]( Current Teaching Series [Where is God When It Hurts?]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Why Pain Keeps You from Greater Harm]( By Rick Warren — 03/16/2023 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= “God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble to an open place of freedom.” Job 36:16 (NCV) Sometimes God uses pain to protect you and guard you. Pain in one area can keep you from having an even worse pain in another area; it protects you from greater harm. In this way, pain can be a blessing in disguise! For example, a fever warns you of an infection that needs to be dealt with. It’s a small pain that can alert you to a life-threatening illness. When you’re in pain emotionally, it often means something is out of order in your relationship to God, others, or yourself. He uses pain to keep you from walking into a hidden trap. Job 36:16 says, “God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble to an open place of freedom” (NCV). Think of Joseph’s story—how everything in the first 40 years of his life went wrong. He went through all kinds of injustice. He faced racism, was accused of rape, and experienced family conflict. He was thrown in prison for no reason. And he was painfully mistreated year after year. But God was guarding and guiding and growing him and getting him ready for greatness. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph is talking to the people who brought on his pain and sold him into slavery. Looking back at all that had happened, this is what he says about the pain he experienced: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good” (NLT). God is doing the same thing with your pain. But because you can’t see the whole picture that God sees, you often get impatient. When you get discouraged because you think everything you have experienced is for nothing, you need to remember John 13:7, where Jesus says, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (NIV). You cannot see the whole picture now. You will not fully understand here on Earth why some things have happened to you—but you will one day. And while you wait, you can trust that God is working and using your pain to guard and protect you. Your pain will not be wasted! [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What tools has God given you to help you learn to trust him when you don’t fully understand what he is doing? - Why do you think pain is so effective in getting our attention? - On what experience can you look back and see how God was protecting you from a greater pain or danger? The post [Why Pain Keeps You from Greater Harm]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. 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[LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: How God Can Use My Pain for My Good Message 2: How Can I Benefit from My Pain? Message 3: Using Your Pain to Help Others [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( Rick Warren is the founding pastor of [Saddleback Church]( one of America’s largest and most influential churches. Pastor Rick is the author of the New York Times bestseller [The Purpose Driven Life](. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. Pastor Rick created [The PEACE Plan]( to address the five global giants—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. 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