Psalm 119:71: “It was good that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your decrees.”

I am a firm believer in the Word. I believe in spending time in it, soaking in it so-to-speak, and allowing it work in the heart. I believe that God teaches us through His Word, and that it is our guidebook for life, to be treated as the final authority on our spiritual walk.

But there’s a teacher that we often neglect in our spiritual studies – Experience.

It’s in the actualities of life that the Christian walk begins, and where we either find ourselves walking in victory or shrinking back in defeat. It’s one thing to read verses such as “Thou shalt not covet” or “Love your neighbor as yourself” and it’s another thing entirely to walk them out.

One of the best teachers in life is the experience of pain.

How well do you handle pain?

I don’t know many people who like pain, other than maybe the kind they get working out in the gym. But in order to grow our spiritual muscles, we must be able to handle this necessary part of life in the right way.

Recently I went through an experience that was very painful for me, that was unique to anything I had experienced before. I realized that I had two choices – either wallow as a victim and look for others to validate what I was feeling, or look beyond myself to the Lord and ask “What would You do in me through this?”

Why is the second so hard to do? Because it requires being honest with ourselves about what we’re feeling.

Emotions are not a bad thing. In fact, they’re a sign of what is going on, and need to be listened to. But emotions buried or mishandled can end up causing even more pain for ourselves.

When you encounter a painful situation, do you tend to want to brush it under the rug as if it never happened? Or maybe you lash out in anger and point your finger at the other person.

While these are our natural responses, both these options are bad. Why? Because both of them avoid doing the hard work of being real with God.

We run from our pain because it hurts. To be honest with it means bringing things into the light that we don’t want to touch. That poke at our feelings of self-worth, our hearts.

But God says, “Don’t be ashamed of your pain. Be honest with Me.” He says He desires “truth in the inner place” (Psalm 51:6).

Hiding started back in the Garden with Adam and Eve. God had created them for fellowship with Himself, and once they realized they had sinned, they started hiding.

Jesus didn’t expect people to hide the junk from Him. He went right to where they were at, actually. Remember, they affiliated Him with “sinners” (Matthew 9:10-12).

Jesus wants that with us. Even if you’re not in sin, He wants to know your hurts. He cried with Mary and Martha. His compassion is endless (Lamentations 3:22).

So bring your hurts to Him. Don’t cover them up, don’t dismiss them, don’t sweep them under the rug. But be real with Him. If you don’t, you’re missing out on the chance for Him to grow the pain into something you never could have imagined.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21.