I’ve been extremely fortunate in my life. I haven’t had to suffer much pain. Tragedy has yet to show its ugly head to me. I know there will be many days when it does in the future, but so far I’ve been very lucky.

Every pain that I can truthfully say I have felt has been a temporary kind. Some things hurt more than others, but the pain has always subsided.

I am extremely passionate about sports. I love all my sports teams more than anyone I’ve ever known, and I want to win on my own sports teams more than anyone I’ve ever known as well. With that in mind, I have suffered a lot of pain and heartbreak when it comes to sports. It may sound dumb to some, and maybe it is. But to be so completely passionate about something, and for that something to constantly let you down, it hurts.

My relationships are another thing I am very passionate about. I love my family and friends to death. Without all of them, my life wouldn’t be the same. As with everyone else, however, relationships have brought me great pain at times.

Like many people, I have gone through relationships where I thought I had found “the one.” How could something that seemed so clear be so far from the truth? That is one of the tougher questions I have had to face in my life. And what about the future? Is it going to be possible to “know” who the right girl for me is when I thought I had that feeling before?

These issues are constantly on my mind. And they are the very things that continue to shape who I am.

Sometimes I question whether it is even worth a thought at all, when I stop and consider the many unbearable pains that others have gone through, and continue to go through. What is my pain compared to others? Is it even considered pain at all?

Being a Christian, I constantly read the Word of God, and I constantly see that suffering is something I will do. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It’s going to happen. And I am also told that I should boast in my sufferings, and rejoice in them. That is easier said than done, but it’s something I am striving for. Even in my extremely insignificant pains I have experienced in my life, I have seen how they have shaped me, and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

Nobody likes the Chicago Cubs more than I do. I eat, sleep, and breathe that team. Obviously, with them not winning in almost 100 years, it has been painful to watch at times. But at the same time, I have this great hope that one day it will happen. One day they will win. One day… all the pain will be worthwhile. And when that day comes, I know I will not want to trade all the losing that happened leading up to that one great moment. Sports can be extremely frustrating. They have been for me. Playing sports in high school and now in college, I haven’t ever been on a team that has accomplished anything. As much as I have wanted it, it just hasn’t happened. But again, it has shaped who I am today, and it only has made me work harder.

The same goes for relationships. I love meeting new people. I have dated many girls, broken a few hearts, and had my heart broken as well. But just as in any other aspect of life, the pain that I have gone through will all be worth it some day. One day, I will meet that one special person. One day… all the pain of the past will no longer exist. And when that day comes, I will not trade any pain that it caused to get me there.

Maybe my points are irrelevant to everyone else in the world. Or maybe they mean something to you too. I’ve been lucky to only experience this oh so minor pain in my life. But even in the pain I’ve had, I can see God using me through it. I can see a hope, and a light at the end of every tunnel.

The biggest pain of all is living in a world that is going downhill, and living in a world that is living so far from the truth. But I am a firm believer that Christ came to heal a broken world. He came to heal the pain, and give the hope of eternal life, if we simply accept Him.

I guess the question shouldn’t be what is pain? But what is hope, without the pain that precedes it?

“When the burden seems too much to bare, remember:
The end will justify the pain it took to get us there.”
-Relient K