Don't Waste Your Pain by Brother Duke Hansen

            Good morning. We will be reading from a couple of different scriptures today as the groundwork for the message. The first place we will be reading from is 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We will be starting at verse 8.

        If you think about this for a few minutes, you come to the realization that the first sin recorded in the scripture at the beginning of man was with food. The serpent has used the fruit from the tree of knowledge to tempt Eve because when she saw it was good for food and pleasant to her eyes. This morning, think of the times someone has lied to you, or hurt you, cheated you from something. Where did it hurt you? Did it hurt your arm? Your neck? No. The pain comes from your midsection. It comes from within as an ache. In the Bible, David wrote psalms to God about dealing with pain himself. Why does the pain hit you in that midsection? How do you usually handle it? Do you pray with passion and seek the Lord for comfort? Do you impulse buy things on line or eat a whole bunch of comfort food? When things aren't going out way, we telegraph it with our body language. Our head hangs low. Our countenance falls. We tend to seek others to blame our pain on. Now, in the time of the early church, Paul knew about pain. When he was known as Saul, Paul was born and raised in Tarsus. That city was affluent and highly educated. He was also a Roman citizen. He was a zealot of the Jewish faith, studying under Gamaliel in Jerusalem, before his conversion on Damascus road. Paul knew the pain of being suddenly struck blind, hunger, imprisonment, all manner of torture and beating. Let's start reading with verse 8 of 2 Corinthians.

        8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

        9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

        In verse 9, Paul is paraphrasing Psalms 37:24 

        24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

        Now, let's return to our scripture in 2 Corinthians.

        10 Always bearing about the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

        The old covenant sacrifice of cattle and birds went to sacrificing ourself. We are to sacrifice our flesh to holiness. The American church in it's many denominations have seemed to put that away all together. In his ministry, Jesus would tell people to carry their own cross and follow him. (Matthew 16: 24-26) 

        There are good things we can take from pain. Pain can cause you to change your mind, open your eyes to the details of his word. If you use your pain to curl up and be seen as a victim, that is your flesh 100% at work. You may be trying to think of men in the scripture who had long-suffering that turned to a blessing. I can give you two to read about this week. Joseph and Moses. 

        Pain can create a fire within your spirit, a change of direction for your life, and sometimes it reveals darkness and hidden things in your character.

        Jealousy, envy, strife, these are all attributes of the carnal flesh. They aren't assigned or designated spirits. Pain can also set up personal boundaries such as faith. We have faith, but a lot of times we put it in the wrong places. Pain can break generational chains, deliver a spiritual victory, and can loosen your spirit.

        How many of you when you're going through pain and you feel emotions such as sadness, anxiety, and depression? That is your flesh at work. If you get low and you are before God with a broken and contrite spirit, you won't be low for long. You can't get close to the resurrection of God unless you nail your flesh to the cross. Knowing God in his resurrection is to know him in his suffering. Pain brings resolve. Through suffering you receive a revelation.

        I want us to turn to the book of Isaiah and go to chapter 43. We will begin reading at verse 1.

        But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

        2 When thou passes through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walk through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

        3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

        4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

        11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior.

        How many men, women, and children had lost their life over the land which God had promised them in the wilderness? Paul advocated to the church to walk in strength. When you are walking in strength, you feel weak and faint because you are controlling your flesh. Let's read verse 12.

        12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

        13 Yea, before the day was, I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

        When God is working, the hand of God is unnatural because of the pain inflicted on your flesh. The people who allow in the flesh and don't like any pain, they don't know about the moaning in the spirit. That is a sign of a broken and contrite spirit. We need to be calm in our comings and goings. When our flesh is afflicted, we need to remain calm. The dictionary defines calm as follows.

        1. not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other strong emotions. 2. make someone tranquil and quiet; soothe.

        In a conflict, a state of anxiety or nervousness, you act with calm to where you can obtain a victory in the spirit. If you continue to have a victim mindset, pain will cripple your spirit. This mindset pulls you down and those around you down as well. You isolate yourself. Pain will put hate in your heart. Everyone of us is carrying some form of pain on our backs. Pain sown in the flesh hurts others and will come back around later in life. Pain causes us to act out in the flesh. You cannot stop it when you commit yourself to being the victim. 

        We are going to return briefly to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Let's go to verse 7.

        7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

        The Holy Ghost is not about speaking in tongues or feeling superior over those who may not have it yet. The Holy Ghost is to lead and guide you in all your ways. If you're not being led, you're operating in the flesh and often fueled on emotion.

        We settle for plenty in our life except when we are in pain. God doesn't work where the flesh is operating. It is easy to walk in the natural, in the flesh.

        6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

        Who is the face of God? It's Jesus. The greatest commandment is love others more than yourself. You can't achieve that without pain. We should pray more for faith and trust in God. Does God still move? Yes he does. There are times when to pray and not to pray for people and places. You have to build and sharpen your spiritual comprehension.

        Hold your peace and your calm.