PAIN!

Once again there is pain in our house.  Due to my own clumsiness, I fell in the kitchen yesterday.  I fell so hard it knocked the wind out of me. I have in much pain in various parts of my body.

Through the pain I wanted to shout, “What is going on here?  I take one step forward and two steps back!  Just when I think I am on level ground, I am down again.”

I have physical pain but there is so much other pain that many are facing… pain of a broken heart, pain of grief, pain of loneliness, pain of bitterness, pain of consequences, pain of longing for days gone by, pain of hunger, pain of sickness…

Are you in pain? Did I hit your pain?  What do you do with all that pain?

^{It’s sometimes hard to understand but the Bible says:}  

^{1 Thessalonians 5:18  (KJV)}

¹⁸ In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

That’s not thanking God that I fell but knowing God is in control:

Romans 8:28   (NASB)

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

God did not cause that fall but He causes all things to work together for our good and His glory.  As a child of God I have this very assurance in my own life.

So what is this “good” that comes out of these painful experiences we have in life?

For me, I first had to refocus!  Above when I was questioning what is going on, that was seeing things through my eyes. When I refocus, I see things from God’s perspective.  Immediately my thoughts change to “How are you going to use this in my life, Lord? What do you want me to learn?”

Pain can either bring us to defeat and despair or it can bring us closer to God as we look to Him, talk to Him and search His Word for comfort and direction.

When we turn our focus to God, we grow stronger in our faith and our trust in God is strengthened. Our priorities are in line with God’s will and He will work in and through us to use us for His glory as we minister to others who are experiencing that same pain we have known.

It doesn’t matter why we are in pain or where it is coming from, when we look to God, He takes control and we are strengthened to carry on in His will.

I recently read these quotes by Corrie Ten Boom:

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.

‘If you look at the world, you‘ll be distressed. If you look within, you‘ll be depressed. If you look at God you‘ll be at rest.’

Focus on God and rest, even in the pain.