Troublesome Topic: SATAN USES OUR PAIN AGAINST US

Besides using our painful memories and past failures against us, Satan is very good at turning moments of pain into weapons against us. In II Cor 12:7 Paul refers to the thorn in his side as “a messenger of Satan.”

God allows us to suffer difficulties and pain in order to challenge us to grow spiritually. Satan takes advantage of our pain to make us think wrong thoughts about God—that He doesn’t know what He is doing, that He is not a good God, that He doesn’t care about us, etc.

The problem with that perspective is that it is self-centered. We don’t like pain, therefore we assume God cannot be a good God if He allows us to suffer pain. We have made it about us, God wants us to focus on Him, His glory, His will for us, and His desire for all people.

When pain comes it is our natural tendency to say, “I don’t like this; I want it to stop.” But don’t fall for Satan’s ploys. He will play on our natural tendencies and will draw us further down that road which ends up making us see God in a negative light.

Therefore, when pain comes into our lives, we should ask God to help us learn what He wants us to learn, and we should look for ways to give God glory through our pain.

If you are one of those who has been mistreated in the past, please listen carefully. The more you think about, and talk about, the hurts you carry, the more power you give those hurts over you. In time you begin to see yourself as a hurting, wounded person; it becomes your identity, and your identity drives your attitudes and your actions. However, that can be changed. The more you focus your thoughts and your spoken words on what Jesus has done and is doing in your life, you will begin to see yourself in a different light. You will realize that you do not need to be defined by your past or what others have done to you; you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, a new you  (II Cor 5:17). The hurts from your past will not disappear, but they will be seen in proper perspective because God is greater than your past. Your new identity as someone who is “in Christ” will now guide your attitudes and your actions. So focus on Jesus, saturate your mind with His words; do not give any more time and attention to the hurts from your past.

The next lesson is What Would Life Be Like Without Pain?