Pastor Erwin McManus says there are many examples in the Bible of godly men and women walking with Jesus through pain. Christ doesn’t promise us a life without pain on earth—in fact, He dealt with a lot of mocking and suffering, especially toward the end of His life. But He does promise to give us the strength to move forward.
“We hope that maybe if we could turn to God, that God would give us a path of life that would allow us to go around pain or to avoid the deep wounds that life can bring,” McManus says. “Yet, if you pay attention to it—not only in the overarching story of the Scriptures, but also in the story of Jesus—we realize God has never promised us a way out of pain. But He does, actually, promise us a way through pain. …
“Peace never comes because we’ve abdicated responsibility for our lives. Peace only comes when we decide it is worth fighting for. So when you stand in your pain, this is when you are in the heat of the battle. It’s when you stand in your pain that you realize you’re stronger than you know. … When you’re standing in your pain, that’s the moment you can realize that God is with you.”
To listen to the entire sermon titled “The Power of Resilience,” click here.
