Pain is a really misunderstood topic, especially when it comes to life in Christ. Whenever a struggle or trial hits a person’s life, generally we make getting them through it or out of it as quickly as possible as our goal. But what if the pain is being used for so much more? Not saying don’t reach out and be there for someone when they’re going through it, we need that, but we tend to make it our job to try and take the pain away, even in our own lives. But that’s something we simply just can’t do. But, God is using the pain for so much more.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
~Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)
The hard times God sends us through can rip us apart and hurt more than words can describe. It makes sense to want to get out of them as quickly as possible. But there’s something God’s bringing about through it. There’s a way He’s growing us and moving through us to live for more, and above all, to know Him more. Yet, even knowing these in the midst of trouble, knowing the pain is temporary, and knowing we’ll eventually be okay doesn’t take away the reality of the pain we’re experiencing in the moment. It doesn’t take away the problem we’re in, but it does give us hope. Hope God will use this, none of it will be wasted, but He brings meaning from it. That’s where we find joy which makes us endure. Faith in the hope He’s given us. And through it all, He makes our pain His pain, willingly.
Spiritual pain is much like a workout. If you’re really pushing yourself and expecting the results, you have to go through the pain and let it do what it does to grow you. You can give up in a workout, but you won’t get the results you’re after. A lot of times, we don’t know how to just let God use the pain for the purpose He’s brought it for. And it’s because we’re human, weak, and fragile; He’s well aware of that. It’s why He said He’d be faithful to stay with us and work in us through it all because we can’t do this on our own. And above all, in the end, we’ll be with Him where there is no more pain. We’re not going to find that here on earth.
We’re going to have problems until the day we die. Life is harder than we expect and want it to be. But through it all, we have hope. And hope is so much more powerful than we give it credit for. God has seen all the pain, devastation, struggle, war, evil, sin, doubt, depression, and all that would make us worry, stressed, and frustrated…and He hasn’t lost hope. He sees it all, and comes up with a way to make it beautiful.
“…when God the gardener tears open the earth, he is doing it in order to bring about something beautiful. If you want the joy of harvest, you first have to plant seeds; and anyone who’s planted seeds knows that the soil must be torn open. That’s how joy works.” ~Andrew Peterson
