Romans 5: 3-4 teaches us that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character produces hope. If we are consistently trying to bypass pain/suffering then we may miss the blessings that follow. The trials and tribulations of life will wound us and cause pain. My father was part of what has been referred to as the greatest generation. He experienced the hardships of growing up during the Great Depression and fighting in World War II. God gave him and many others of this period the ability to persevere. The character that comes through perseverance produces people of integrity and principle. Principles are things that are worth fighting and sometimes dying for. Integrity is the actions that we take when no one is looking. If we consistently seek out the bypass for Painville then we become a people that lack perseverance and character.
