Pain. This word will surely be a trigger for those who have experienced dark times, grief, depression, anxiety, etc., which all children of God have, while on their earthly journey with the Lord. The modern, secular world wants humanity to run from this word. To hide from it. To bury it, but pain will inevitably make a return unless the root of the suffering is extracted. Present-day psychologists, mental health professionals, and the like will be quick to give the patient medicine to reduce the agony as if the problem is merely a physical or mental ailment. I believe the root issue is spiritual. Then, this hurt may lead to physical and mental aching over time. Where can one receive spiritual refreshment, hope for better days, and the chance for their pain to lead them to paradise? The sufferer shall seek the Biblical Counselor, who is a vessel for the guiding work of the Holy Spirit, discipling those who may be struggling with an earthly trouble, to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and thus providing a connection to our Creator, our Father in Heaven.  

      Throughout my studies in the field of Biblical Counseling thus far, I have yet to find many blogs, writings, and teachings pointing to the true reason why someone would engage in the vocational work of a Biblical Counselor. What is the main goal of Biblical Counseling? I would say it is to lead the tormented, lost souls of the earth to possible salvation through Christ Jesus. When the counselee has come to the end of their self, willing to commit fully to the Lord and His will, they will surrender and lay down their life to Jesus. Thus, calling upon Jesus Christ to save them. The Lord works through the Biblical Counselor. As stated above, the counselor of the Word is merely a vessel for the Holy Spirit to work through. The goals of the Biblical Counselor consist of being a carrier through which the Holy Spirit may work through, striving to be a teacher of the Word of God, a mentor and life coach who may disciple the counselee into proper daily, relational habits with Christ Jesus, to which the counselee may begin to let the Lord into every area of their life, seeking salvation through the Lord.

      Once again, let us broach the word “pain” and its role in the life of the believer in Christ and the Biblical Counselor. The outside world, those who do not pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ, will hear the word “pain” and find themselves trembling, leading to a complete abandonment of the word completely. Even we Christians do not like to come across the term; let alone speak it into existence, but I see “pain” as one of the most important words in our language. In the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul writes,

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5, ESV)

The only way for a true believer in the Lord to grow deeper in their relationship with God is for the child of Jesus Christ, to suffer. Pain will indeed produce endurance, endurance will lead unto character, and character will yield hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only one who can and will see us through our sufferings. As a Biblical Counselor, “pain” is possibly the best word to hear. This gives the counselor a place to begin the counseling process; a cookie-crumb trail to follow, to which in the end, the root of one’s troubles shall become known to the counselor and thus, the counselee as well. I call this, “the open door.”

      Pain is an open door; an open door leading to Jesus Christ. Pain gives us a reason to grow in our relationship with the Lord while pursuing His healing, direction, and understanding. Once more, the apostle Paul remarks to the Corinthian church,

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, ESV)

Our present-day sufferings, when handled correctly, can be used as a possible open door to eternal life. The greatest accomplishment that a Biblical Counselor can achieve, is one in which the root cause of the pain that is being felt by the counselee is located and discovered by both parties. When surrendered to God, this pain may lead the lost soul in search of the Truth, to salvation, and eternal life with Jesus Christ. This is the main objective of the Biblical Counselor. Being an available vessel of the eternal life-saving work of Jesus Christ, to the ones on earth who may not yet be saved. The Biblical Counselor works from the perspective of “forever” in mind, not just “the now”.

      Finally, this is not a works-based assessment. All believers in the Lord should understand that it is only through our faith alone in Christ Jesus that leads us to salvation through His blood on the Cross. I am simply stating that the pain we all endure while on our earthly journey, when surrendered to the Lord from a place of finding the end of one’s self, may lead the child of God who may not yet be saved, to salvation. Pain is an open door to paradise, an eternal relationship with our Lord and Savior. He allows us to admit defeat in our fleshly lives so that we may seek Him diligently and honestly, from a place of full surrender, as we commit to our new life with Christ. The Biblical Counselor should be a trusted guide and teacher who disciples the counselee to seek the Lord’s saving grace, never-ending love, and eternal salvation. This is the ultimate goal of the Biblical Counselor. Salvation is the key, for those who may not be saved and for those who may wrongly believe that they are. Pain, when surrendered wholeheartedly to the Lord, can lead the seeker to find paradise through their Creator, Jesus Christ.