I was watching the Olympics a few weeks ago and heard Mikaela Schiffrin use a phrase that caught my attention. She actually borrowed it from Billy Jean King; “Pressure is a privilege.” It sounded almost strange at first. Most of us spend our lives trying to reduce pressure – fewer expectations, fewer demands, less weight on our shoulders. But for an Olympian, pressure means something very different. It means you made the team. It means you are trusted. It means you are competing on a stage that matters and few have the opportunity to experience. No one feels pressure on the sidelines. Pressure belongs to those in the arena. In that sense, pressure is evidence of calling. It is the weight that comes with responsibility and opportunity. But as I thought about that phrase, another question surfaced – one closer to my life these days, and closer to perhaps our everyday life. “If pressure is a privilege…. Then what is pain? While only a few people compete in the Olympics, everyone walks through pain. I would suggest this: “If Pressure is a Privilege – then Pain is a Pathway!” Pain is a pathway to what? Pain is a pathway to experiences we would not normally choose. Yet pain has the potential to take us deeper, broader, more fully into a richer appreciation for this God given gift of life. Pain isn’t chosen. Pain often interrupts. Pain brings about humility. Pain slows us down. Yet Scripture consistently teaches that pain is not pointless. Paul states, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope doesn’t disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into us through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:3-5) James says, “Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) Paul writes, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) The writer of Hebrews points out, “For it was fitting that Jesus, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, should make the founder of their salvation – “perfect (complete) through suffering”. (Hebrews 2:10) Additionally, Paul records this insight, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (1 Corinthians 1:9) Pain, in God’s hands, is not a dead end. It is a pathway. A pathway to deeper endurance. A pathway to deeper reliance. A pathway to humility. A pathway to compassion. A pathway to clearer hope. A pathway to “shalom”, peace, wholeness, completeness. We rarely see where the path leads while we are on it. That is why faith is required. The pathway is often narrow, sometimes steep, occasionally dark. But it is not random. And it is not wasted. Pressure may be a privilege -entrusted to those called to carry out something meaningful. And pain? Let us embrace pain as a pathway – along which God quietly shapes His people for glory. Even when the pathway is slow. Even when it is uncomfortable. Even when we would not have chosen it. Our Savior is still leading us! For He IS the WAY (our PATH!). He IS the TRUTH (our LIGHT!). He IS the LIFE (our RESURRECTION!). May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ALL! Love in Christ, Pastor Mark