All tagged pain
I was lifted up by the message and scripture of my devotional reading today. The scripture reading that blessed me so immensely was from 2nd Corinthians. And, as I read this scripture, the words of my devotional reading this morning echoed in them. They spoke to me of Jesus being the pattern of prayer, selfless, and the great intercessor who stands at the right hand of God... In this I could see a lesson in how we should all pray for others… it was a lesson in love, and in comforting others.
We suffer in our lives, but no suffering is experienced without God using it for His good purposes. The question becomes this... do we see Him working in our most dire circumstances? If we are attuned to the will of God in our lives we should acknowledge His plan for us, even in our misery... unless, of course, we are blinded to Him by our disbelief.
Quite often we miss seeing the inward pain that people are enduring in their lives. There are those who suffer excruciating physical, mental, emotional, and yes, spiritual pain, from sources that we can’t possibly see by simply looking at them. Haven’t we met an old friend on the street, and in the exuberant joy of seeing them again taken their hand or hugged them, only to have them wince in pain and tell us they hurt somewhere, or perhaps we asked how their family was doing and witnessed tears and sadness in their eyes as they told us of a lost loved one? It is the same with spiritual pain. So how do we recognize it, and how should we react to it? We are directed to those who suffer by the merciful hand of God who sees their hearts.
Mourning - at some point in our lives, sadness and sorrow visit us all, but we find it to be like a winter field that is burnt off; from its ashes our capacity to praise God springs up anew, and in the spring we bear a bountiful crop. Like pruning increases the yield of a vine, and fertilizer nourishes the soil, so does our pain and suffering enrich the yield of our souls. In season our gladness returns, and we sing again, for although every man is meant once to die, in Christ he rises again, and our joy returns with eternal vigor.
What has the Lord done for you recently? Was it marvelous? Powerful? Did He save your life, or the life of someone you love? How about your soul… was it lost until He sent Jesus to redeem it? Salvation, what an amazing feat that was… God’s right hand, and holy arm, working together to redeem us, to purchase us for Himself. Well what if He walked you into the valley of the shadow of death, and brought you face to face with it while your last breath lingered on your lips… would your final exhale be a new song, or prayer to Him? Our answer should be ”YES!” Let’s talk about why.