Pain
Physical, emotional, and mental pain. It’s not a subject I care to focus on but it’s a reality that we are surrounded by. How many of us have it listed on our favorite past-time top 10? It wouldn’t make my top 50. But yet, here I am writing about something I’d rather choose not to. I’m asking myself….why am I doing this?
I feel inadequate to write about pain, as many have experienced it at levels I cannot imagine….at depths that do not make sense….and for reasons that remain unexplainable.
To say I cannot relate at all would be false because we all have a pain history. Many keep silent because it hurts too much to discuss, while others crave someones attention so they can release the built up pressure that it can create.
I’ve been volunteering as a Prayer Warrior with a nationwide crisis network for awhile now. I hear pain in the voices of many that call in from everywhere. Every related issue you can imagine has probably been mentioned more than once. It’s like I said before…we are surrounded by it.
So how do we survive? What do we do with our pain?
I heard a phrase recently that has me pressing the rewind/play button in my mind continuously and it’s the reason I’m here in this moment. So I’m saying it out loud as I type it…….God wants our pain.
Give all of your (worries, anxiety, stress,
burdens, cares, concerns) to God,
for He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
Psalms 147:3
God wants our pain
God has designed a way for us to actively address our pain in order to gain. He wishes for us to depend on Him to provide solutions that ease our pain and also creates endurance and strength in us.
God does not waste anything. He has a purpose for the pain we endure. He even tells us to consider it pure joy.
When it seems as though you are facing nothing
but difficulties, see it as an invaluable
opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!
James 1:2
Now that one is very hard to swallow. We do not connect joy with being uncomfortable, frustrated, and hurt. It’s like the thorns of a rose bush. You and I are not drawn to be next to a thorny bush.
I forecast pain in your immediate future if you are not careful around one. But give that bush some time and soon the thorns are no longer the focus. The bush produces a beauty that invites smiles and pleasure.
God wants our pain so
He can create something beautiful.
I can only describe this from my own experiences. As hard and difficult as some of my most painful circumstances have been, over time, I can see how each one has created a better me. It’s not a fun process. It’s not one we desire to experience. But the truth of the matter is there can be beauty from ashes. There can be joy in the morning. There can be a positive in the negative.
My pain has created a better me.
For anyone who questions God and remains in a painful situation, I do not have all the answers. The one guaranteed response I do have for you is this….life without God is not the answer.
I know God’s Word speaks truth. I encourage you to do your own Bible research to build your faith. God never leaves you and He has your best interest in mind. He wants to create a better you through the pain you have experienced as well. No one desires to take the messy details of your painful experiences and keep them for themselves……no one but God.
Allowing God to hold your hand and heart is the correct path that will bring you strength, peace, and healing in Jesus name.
Photos by Create228studio