What If Your Pain Is Precision — Not Punishment?
For those discouraged, confused and in pain
There are seasons where everything seems to fall apart — and no one can tell you why.
You’ve prayed. Tried. Stayed faithful.
And still, the relationship ended. The dream slipped through your hands. The silence didn’t break.
You start to wonder:
“Is God punishing me?”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Why is this happening to me?”
But what if the pain isn’t proof of God’s absence…
What if it’s proof of His nearness?
What if pain isn’t punishment but precision?
Pain doesn’t always mean you’re off-track
We assume comfort is God’s yes and pain is His no.
But that’s a distorted lens — more cultural than biblical.
Jesus was most aligned with God… and also most misunderstood, rejected, and crucified.
So maybe pain doesn’t mean failure.
Maybe it means formation.
God prunes what can no longer stay in you
In John 15, Jesus says something strange:
“Every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes — so that it will bear more.”
We often think pruning means cutting off people or dreams.
But more often, it’s something in you that needs to go.
God gently cuts away what can’t grow with you:
Old fears. Hidden attachments. Subtle pride.
False selves you didn’t even realize you were carrying.
And it hurts — even when nothing visible changes.
Lately, I’ve felt that inner cut — not the kind that comes from losing something you held, but the kind that comes from loosening your grip on something you hoped for.
Something you quietly, prayerfully tended with care… only to face an unexpected pause.
It’s disorienting — not because it was ever fully yours, but because it felt real enough to begin imagining what could be.
And now, the pruning seems to be happening inside: in my desire for control, in my craving for clarity, in my need for certainty.
But maybe I’m not being punished.
Maybe I’m being purified.
Pruning feels like loss — because it probably is
You may lose things you thought were essential:
An attachment. A version of yourself. An old identity. A dream. (which may all be good)
It will feel like falling apart.
But maybe you’re not being destroyed.
Maybe you’re being refined.
Ask yourself:
“What is this pain trying to remove from my heart?”
“What truth is it trying to reveal?”
“What illusion is dying — so that something real can live?”
God is not punishing you — He’s purifying you
That’s the difference between shame and grace.
Shame says:
“This pain proves I’m not enough or I’m broken.”
Grace says:
“This pain is making me new.”
Hebrews 12 says God disciplines those He loves — not to shame them, but to produce a harvest of peace.
That kind of discipline isn’t angry or harsh. It’s intentional. Focused. Healing.
Like a surgeon’s scalpel.
Like a refiner’s fire.
Like a gardener’s blade.
Precision. Not punishment.
What if pain is God’s mercy — not His wrath?
We think: “God, make it stop.”
But God might be saying: “Let it shape you.”
He’s not trying to fix you. He’s trying to free you.
From illusions. From attachments. From everything that keeps you small.
The suffering you’re resisting may be the exact thing you need.
Not because pain is good — but because it’s often the only thing strong enough to dislodge what isn’t real.
So if you’re in the pain… stay open
Don’t rush it. Don’t numb it. Don’t make it mean something it doesn’t.
Ask instead:
“What is this season forming in me?”
“What am I being pruned for?”
“What might grow from here — that couldn’t have grown any other way?”
Because this might not be the end.
It might be the beginning.
You’re not being punished.
You’re being prepared.
Let the pruning do its work.
Have you ever gone through a season that felt like punishment, but later realized it was pruning? What did it reveal or remove in you? I’d love to hear and learn from you…