God Speaks Through Pain.

One of my favorite passages is James 1:2-4 followed by a signifiant challenge in verse 5. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Notice “when” not if, troubles come, realize it is character building time and for clarification, ask God for wisdom on what He is doing and wanting to do for you through the pain.
Because of the pain of an unjust firing and a “forced” early retirement, I asked God for wisdom on what was happening. Over a period of time He showed me that the vocational desert was a stripping procedure – shreding me of a destructive self-sufficiency and of the idolatry of performance for recognition and approval (that had produced all sorts of emotional baggage.) God can speak to us through pain, if we ask him.

Os Hillman elaborates reflecting on this James 1 passage. He speaks to this in his devotional From Pain to Destiny.
“God often allows pain to ignite destiny in our lives. Without motivation, many of us would never fulfill the purposes for which God created us. Oftentimes a measured assault invades our life and creates a depth of pain that all we know to do is press into God with all our being.

“At first, our motivation is to alleviate the pain. After a season of extreme emotional and sometimes physical pain, a second phase begins. This phase moves us to discover a new and deeper relationship with God. We begin to discover things about ourselves and about God that we never would have discovered without this motivation. Gradually, our heart changes our motivation from pain to loving obedience because there is a transition of the heart that takes place. No longer do we seek God for deliverance from the pain; we seek God because He is God. We seek His face and not His hand.

“When we move to the second phase we often find ourselves moving into a new destiny and calling for our lives because God often separates us from the old life in this process. No doubt Joseph and Peter felt the pain of their individual crises. However, later they could realize God's purposes in their crisis. Like Joseph, we are able to say, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

God speaks to us through pain. Pain that is self-induced. Pain that is others-caused. Or pain that is engineered by God for our good. God speaks to us through pain.