Pain Can Make Me Better or Bitter—It’s A Choice

“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” 1 Peter 4:19 (NLT)

When people go through tragedy and disaster and pain, some turn to God. But others turn away from God—even when he’s offering the comfort and power they need to make it through a difficult time.

How pain affects me depends on how I choose to respond to it. I am going to let that experience make me bitter, or am I going to turn to God—and let the pain make me better?

Jesus didn’t come to explain away my pain. He came to share it.

He enters into my pain. He is a God who suffers with me and walks with me through whatever I'm going through, whether it’s emotional, physical, relational, or spiritual.

Some Christians think that it’s never God’s will for me to suffer and that if I have any pain in my life, it means I don’t have enough faith.

This is far from the truth. Sometimes I'm just going to suffer. Sometimes I'm going to have pain that is part of God’s will. The Bible says, “So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (1 Peter 4:19 NLT). 

Pain is inevitable. It’s a part of life, even for Christians. The choice I get to make involves whether or not I will waste my hurt. I can choose whether it will make me bitter or better.

Next time I'm experiencing pain ask God: “Are you using this pain to guide me in a new direction? Are you using this pain to spur me into action? Are you using this pain to show me what I need to work on? Are you using this pain to guard me from something more harmful? Are you using this pain to grow me and make me more like you? Lord thank you that you will never waste my pain. Please help me trust you as I follow you in faith.”

Let whatever pain I may go through guide me into the caring arms of Jesus Christ.

In summary:

Pain is inevitable, but how we respond to it shapes our growth. 1 Peter 4:19 reminds us to trust God during suffering, knowing He will never fail us. While pain is a part of life, it’s a choice to either let it make us bitter or better. Jesus shares in our pain and offers comfort, helping us grow and become more like Him. We can trust that God will use our pain for good, guiding us and teaching us through it.