Win Today: Your Roadmap to Wholeness 466: When Pain Gets Wasted. Shawn Johnson on Stewarding the Middle Season of Life, How Bitterness Erodes Trust, and Why We Settle for Temporary Rest Instead of True Peace
Nov 26, 2025
Shawn Johnson, lead pastor of Red Rocks Church and author of Attacking Anxiety, shares his personal battle with a degenerative brain diagnosis. He discusses how pain can be mishandled, emphasizing the importance of stewarding suffering instead of wasting it. The conversation explores the distinction between physical rest and true peace, the dangers of bitterness, and the power of honest prayer. Shawn also highlights the need to find purpose in pain and encourages embracing vulnerability to connect with others in their struggles.
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Diagnosis In The Truck
- Shawn Johnson describes getting a devastating neurologist diagnosis in a parking lot after expecting a minor issue.
- He learned the condition was incurable and faced uncertainty about progression and dependency on his wife.
Childhood That Shaped Insecurity
- Shawn shares childhood trauma: his teenage mother abandoned him and attempted suicide.
- That history shaped a lifelong insecurity driving him to earn worth through usefulness.
Pain As Stewardship
- Shawn reframes suffering as stewardship: God trusts people to steward pain toward purpose.
- He chooses not to waste pain and seeks to use it to help others and build hope.
