Kiss the Fire

Pain is never a waste—it is divine too! God is using for a purpose more powerful than you can imagine.

What fire are you currently facing? Is it a broken relationship? Maybe you experienced betrayal from someone you loved and trusted.

Is it loneliness? Maybe you’ve been single for a long time and just wish you weren’t. All your friends are married now, and you’re tired of being by yourself.

Is it physical pain? Maybe you’re experiencing debilitating or chronic pain that is keeping you from living the way you used to.

Is it a mental health struggle? Maybe you’re fighting anxiety, depression, or even suicidal thoughts.

Whatever fire you are facing, let me first say this: Your pain is real. I’m sorry that you are going through it. I’m sure it hurts, and I know it’s not fair.

But what if you changed the way you thought about your pain? What if you started seeing your pain as the prerequisite for purpose? I know the thing you are going through right now is painful, but it’s not pointless—there’s more purpose in your pain than you could ever imagine.

What if, instead of focusing on the pain, you started focusing on the purpose? Because your pain can help somebody else.

Applying purpose to your pain changes everything; it’s the key ingredient to helping you stay in the fight. It’s how you kiss the fire in front of you and walk away whistling. That purpose gives you three really important things you’re going to need to kiss the fire: joy, peace, and confidence.

Purpose Gives You Joy

The apostle Paul understood that pain is the prerequisite for purpose. During his ministry he went through all sorts of persecution for preaching the gospel. He was arrested multiple times and spent the majority of his final years either sitting in a jail cell or under house arrest. Think about how frustrating that must’ve been. Paul was doing good things. He was just trying to help people and was getting punished for it.

I’m a professional pity-party thrower. I can take any predicament and turn it into a massive problem. If I were in Paul’s situation, there’s a chance I would have complained about it to anyone who would listen.

But Paul did the exact opposite. He immediately noticed how much purpose there was in his pain. And so he writes a letter from prison to the church at Philippi that is all about joy. In just four chapters, Paul mentions joy or rejoicing 16 times, including:

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Philippians 1:4–5 NIV),

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you (Philippians 2:17 NIV), and

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NIV).

That’s crazy.

One of my favorite things about Paul is how much joy he had even while he was imprisoned and persecuted. How was Paul able to stay so full of joy despite everything going on in his life? The answer is purpose.

Paul’s life was about something bigger than him. And so even though he was facing an enormous fire, he knew he was still walking in his purpose. In fact, he even said the pain and persecution were
helping people hear about Jesus. Check this out:

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear (Philippians 1:12–14 NIV).

Instead of throwing himself a pity party, Paul was preaching to the guards, and they were getting saved. He found purpose in the pain, and because of that, he had joy despite being in prison.

The same thing is true for you. There is more purpose in your pain than you could imagine. Your pain is not pointless; God is using it. Let that truth fill your life with joy today.

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Adapted Excerpt: This article is an adapted excerpt from Kiss the Fire: 7 Ways to Get Back Up When You Want to Give Up by Shawn Johnson ©2025 by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.