RESILIENT

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Sunday, September 7, 2025

(2 Corinthians 4:8–10, CEV) “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.”

RESILIENCE IS LOOKING AT LIFE IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY.

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” – William Barclay

SUFFERING POINTS ME TO JESUS AND THE GOOD NEWS.

(2 Corinthians 4:10–12, NLT) “Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.”

1. PAIN CAN DRAW ME CLOSER TO GOD.

(2 Corinthians 1:8–9, LB) “We were really crushed and overwhelmed, … saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.”

a. Cry out to God in your sorrow and pain.

b. Argue with God in your struggles.

c. Trust God and surrender to Him.

(2 Corinthians 7:9, Message) “Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.”

2. PAIN CAN DRAW ME CLOSER TO OTHERS.

(Galatians 6:2, NLT) “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

“I have noticed that when one who has not suffered draws near to one in pain, there is rarely much power to help. I have wondered if it can be the same in the sphere of prayer. Does pain accepted and endured give some quality that would otherwise be lacking in prayer? What if every stroke of pain, or hour of weariness or loneliness, or any other trial of flesh or spirit, could carry us a pulse beat nearer some other life, some life for which the ministry of prayer is needed. Would it not be worthwhile to suffer? Ten thousand times yes. And surely it must be so, for the further we are drawn into the fellowship of Calvary with our dear Lord, the [more tender] we are toward others. God never wastes His children’s pain.” – Amy Carmichael, missionary to India

3. PAIN CAN BE USED TO BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS.

(Proverbs 20:30, GN) “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.”

(Hebrews 5:9, CEV) “Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him.”

(2 Corinthians 7:11, Message) “Isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart.”

4. PAIN CAN MAKE ME HELPFUL TO OTHERS.

a. I can’t fix you.

b. I can’t change you.

c. My words will not heal you.

d. I can be with you!

e. I can listen to you!

f. I can pray with you!

(2 Corinthians 1:4–6, NLT) “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.”

5. PAIN CAN BE A WITNESS TO NON-CHRISTIANS.

(Philippians 1:12, NLT) “And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.”

(2 Corinthians 6:4, NLT) “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.”

GROWTHWORK

(2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT) “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”

1. Christ is with me in my pain and suffering.

2. In my weakness Christ’s strength is perfected in me.

3. What were the most painful experiences of your life?

4. Who do you know that is going through similar experiences in life?

5. They are your ministry.