No pain, no gain?

The mission of The Sage Forum is to encourage, equip, and empower women over 40 to mature in faith and grow in wisdom. The newsletter we send out at the beginning of each month focuses on a different theme written by and tailored to women in the second half of life. (This month’s issue focused on mentoring; next month we’ll tackle fashion and physical appearance as we age.)

We’re trying something new. We’re adding an extra bit of encouragement we’ll be sending mid-month. This quick read is similar in format to the Christian devotional readings some of you may use, but ours will be targeted to the challenges and life stages of our readers. Please let us know what you think!

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No pain, no gain?

Maybe not.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

“I wish I had better news for you, but this process is gonna hurt.” The physical therapist’s unadorned words were meant to prepare me for the challenging weeks of rehab ahead of me.  

This time, the physical therapy was for a frozen shoulder, but I’d been through three different rounds of rehab for previous knee surgeries, plus a long, hard rotator cuff rehab on my other shoulder a decade earlier. As a result, I had a pretty good idea that the next weeks of therapy were not going to be fun…or painless.

But I’d been living too long with the pain that had held my inflamed joint in its fiery tentacles, limiting my ability to use that arm. There was no magic pill I could ingest to return my shoulder to good working order. I was going to have to persevere through the discomfort of the stretching and strengthening exercises prescribed by the therapist.    

In her 1980’s exercise videos, Jane Fonda was fond of saying, “No pain, no gain”. I don’t think Ms. Fonda was urging her adherents to be masochists. Her hard core pep talk was meant to motivate her couch potato viewers. I was one of them.

Elite athletes reach pinnacles of performance because they’ve learned to embrace the necessary persistence that goes with a training regimen. In the same way, though a world-class musician may have been born with a measure of God-given talent, that gift only shines when polished through years of diligent, repetitive practice.   

Jane Fonda’s “No pain, no gain!” take-no-prisoners approach was a contributing factor to one of my earlier knee injuries, which happened (not so ironically) in a 1980’s aerobics class. But it was in that round of rehab after surgery that I learned the hard way there were no shortcuts or cheat codes. I didn’t like leaning into the discomfort of those daily exercises, but when I slacked off at home, the physical therapist could always tell at my next appointment.

It wasn’t fear of being chided by my P.T. that began to grow my perseverance. It was when I realized that my avoidance tactics simply prolonged my own misery that I finally began to understand that perseverance was more than just gritting my teeth and doing another set of exercises. I learned choosing to press into momentary discomfort today was a way of expressing hope that my future would be free of physical pain and immobility.

The only way to regain strength and mobility was to endure those prescribed daily exercises that pushed me just a little further than what I ever would have pushed myself to do when left to my own devices. In the process, I discovered that it wasn’t just my muscles that were being strengthened. My character was, too. What I experienced in my body took root in my soul.

Perseverance doesn’t come naturally to me. I suspect many of us would make the same claim.

The author of the New Testament book of James penned his letter to Jewish followers of Jesus who were scattered and facing persecution because of their belief in the resurrected Messiah. He didn’t spend a long time writing a flowery introduction to his epistle. He dove right into the matter of highest concern for him. He knew his hearers were facing intense trials that threatened to shred their faith and fray their fellowship.

James sought to reframe their understanding of those tests by assuring them that God was cultivating spiritual growth in them. There was a purpose to their suffering that would bear mature fruit in their lives and in the world–if they persevered.

Certainly, there were ways his audience could have short-circuited their trials including renouncing their faith or choosing to betray their fellow believers to authorities just as Judas had done. James was calling his spiritual siblings not to look for an easy exit from the tests they were facing, nor was he coaching them to simply grit their teeth and gut it out through their trials. Devotional writer Oswald Chambers said, “Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.” The kind of perseverance to which James is calling believers may involve our will, but ultimately, it is an expression of hope in God. And as those “hope muscles” are exercised in the real-time grit, pain, and ache of trials, we grow in spiritual maturity.  

Prayer:

Lord, I’ll confess I’m looking for relief from the trials I’m facing. Help me to lean into what it means to hope in you a little more deeply. Help me to receive the strength and courage I need to persevere. In the name of the Triune One who promises to be near in our trials, and faithful in bringing us to maturity. Amen.

- Written by Sage Forum contributor Michelle Van Loon