Finding Purpose in your Pain

By Linah Wambui

Rita, a 54-year-old woman, struggles to balance her tears as she narrates her life story. She has lived positively for the last 30 years, but her story is one of triumph in a storm she didn’t plan for and had no idea how to overcome.
She was happily married for twenty years and blessed with seven children. However, she felt the need to have one more child, a child that would change her life forever. Her husband had been wasting away for months, and she had continuously requested him to visit a health facility, but he had been reluctant. He was always sick, and she had no idea how to help him.
In 2002, she got pregnant with her 8th child, and during the antenatal checkups, she discovered that she was HIV-positive. There was no medication back then, the nurses asked her to take care of herself and ensure that she got a balanced diet. She didn’t take the news well, and her heart was broken. She had always been very healthy and barely got sick. She got depressed and never attended the antenatal clinics again. She lived in denial, pain, and frustration, sinking deeper into despair as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. She couldn’t do what she loved, and her illness had taken away her independence and happiness. She felt like a burden to her family, hid from her friends, and couldn’t see a way out of her pain.
Unfortunately, her daughter contracted HIV during her home birth. She didn’t have any knowledge on how to take care of her daughter, she breastfed her, and had no precautions whatsoever, a decision she says she regrets. Her husband had brought home a disease, one that she was going to live with forever. She was lost in anger and resentment and could no longer take care of her newborn.
We are innately programmed to feel great emotions, and to feel is to be human. While ecstasy is something we embrace and appreciate, what about pain? Why does God subject us to feeling pain? Is there a purpose behind the pain? “Suffer.”
“Suffering produces growth and maturity (James 1:2-4).”
We must seek refuge from God when we are going through difficult times. Pain will teach us to nurture our mind and our faith in God. Pain will push us towards finding our purpose and bring us closer to God. Christ paid a price for us on the cross, a price that was painful, to pave a path for our salvation.
Pain challenges us to face our weakness and strengthens us to become a better version of ourselves. It makes us humane and helps us spread hope to others.
“When I could no longer hide my pain, I let the world help me. A group of community health workers found me and helped me rise again. They supported me through my pain, encouraged me, and stood by me until I learned to walk again. Today, I walk with thousands of women living positively in Kibra slums as a community health worker. I have found my purpose in helping people. I share my story of hope and how God restored me. I have never felt this fulfilled.
Pain plays a defining role in our lives. Without pain, human experience will remain incomplete. Whether physical or mental, remember the power you possess and how your pain is the path that leads towards healing, fulfillment, and finding God’s purpose in pain. For Rita, she realized that her pain had given her a unique perspective and that she could use it to help others. She continues to volunteer and advocate for people living positively, and she found a new purpose in life.
Pain doesn’t have to be meaningless. It can be a medium for growth, empathy, and purpose. Sometimes, the most profound lessons come from the most challenging experiences.