Pain is a powerful teacher. Aristotle once said, "We cannot learn without pain." I wish that I could say that every lesson I learned came pain free. God allows us to feel pain in order for us to remember what we have learned from each experience. When I feel the negative feedback of an unpleasant experience - whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual - I then learn to avoid the dangers and problems that would otherwise disable and cripple me. The pain that I feel is an important warning signal to protect me from further harm. Without pain, I would miss lifes most important lessons.
No one likes to learn life's lessons the hard way, but it is better than not learning them at all. I would rather not experience the pain of mistakes and failure, but I know that the experience makes me stronger and teaches me a valuable lesson, even if I don't realize it at the time.
It is so great when others pass on their experiences with pain and suffering but we have to take the time to listen to them and take stock in what they are saying to us. Although I will say that even with their valuable advice, we often learn more from the experience and the hard lesson that it will teach us. And when we allow it to sink in then and only then does it become part of our character.
If you don't hear anything else I am saying hear this: Learn what you can from those older, wiser, and more experienced. Allow their mistakes to guide you. Allow their pain to be your teacher. But know this, there will be times when your own pain is the only way to learn the lesson that is trying to be taught. Wisdom comes to those who ask for it and God will give it in abundance, if you ask for it.
Don't waste the hard lessons that your life is trying to teach you, even if it hurts. Those experiences are the best teachers. I have personally learned through the last two weeks, through the pain and grief of loss, that I am nothing without the Holy Spirit and that though I am in pain He understands why I hurt and how to comfort me. This is not the end but the beginning. He has a greater work than I can ever realize and the pain I feel is a crucible that I must go through to accomplish His purposes.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 ESV
"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding" Proverbs 3:13 ESV
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