The Lodestar

Paul, who suffered immensely for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, offers a radical perspective on pain. The catalogue of what he had to go through as a gospel preacher is disturbing (2 Cor 11:23—33). He was beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, adrift at sea, attacked by robbers, Jews, Gentiles, and false brothers, and endured hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness.

It is not surprising because the Lord called him to suffer. The Lord captured him on the Road to Damascus to “show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my (Jesus Christ) name” (Acts 9:16).

However, Paul’s view of his sufferings is surprisingly unique. First, he considers this horrid list of suffering as “light” and “momentary.” He does not consider any of them hard but bearable. He compares the sufferings with the life he is marching forward to in eternity. This world and the suffering it presents to us is transient, but we are heading toward eternity when “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:17 and Isa 25:8).

Moreover, the sufferings in the present world remind us of a world without suffering. Pain makes us yearn for a world without pain. Paul takes the adversities he went through as preparation for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

This world has tears, pains, and shame to offer, even to those who are rich, healthy, and prosperous in everything they do. But there is a world we would enter, where we will dwell forever, where none of this exists. Pain in this world serves as a reminder that there is a world without pain waiting for us.

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