Unshackled Moments ~ November 18 ~ Joy In Pain

Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

- 1 Peter 1:6-9 

Some people have the mistaken idea that if a person has faith it separates them above the difficulties of life. They believe faith to be a magic talisman that provides a near perfect and idealistic Utopic life absent of pain. Not only is this idea contrary to scripture and erroneous, it is dangerous. Real Christianity not only doesn't mean attaining perfection in our walk or our circumstances this side of eternity, but it absolutely has nothing to do with a life free from struggle. It doesn't avoid or escape the problem of pain but rather deals with pain without pretense or illusion.

As Christians we can not avoid pain, but we can allow the struggles of our life to shape our hearts and lives into the men and women God has called us to be, to shine a brighter and more pure reflection of His grace and glory and to push into a closer and deeper relationship with The Comforter. It's not an easy life but one full of rich reminders of the providence of a loving God. The struggles cause us to long for our true home and to remember that this realm is not the end all or be all or where our answer and focus should be found. In times of pain, faith does not transport us from our difficulties and make everything negative disappear, but it can give us comfort, guidance and hope,

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. 

- Romans 5:3-5

To rejoice in our suffering is not to rejoice because of what is wrong. It doesn't mean to pretend to be happy about the pain of a terminal illness or the loss of a loved one or even because the car won't start when you're already running late. It's about remembering that our joy is not to be found in the ease of circumstance or things going a certain way for us in this realm. It's about one day knowing that the struggles will end, the adversity will be overcome and something better is waiting. It's about remembering that what really matters is eternity and not the blink of an eye we sometimes get confused with life. It's about knowing and remembering that while we suffer, we do not suffer alone. Jesus is not only there with us, but weeps with us. He is one who is greatly moved, gut wrenchingly so, by what we are going through and the Holy Spirit has been sent to us to comfort us in these times of pain and sorrow.

Sometimes it's so important to learn that God is our only hope that we need those situations where we find ourselves with nothing else to lean on and nowhere else to turn. If we have some false hope of controlling things ourselves it slows the process of turning us to and surrendering us to a loving God who is not only an ever present source of help, but the only source of real aid.

Let us not be bound be our pain, our sorrow and our suffering and held captive due to our refusal to turn to God instead of away. Although it is natural and easy to get angry at God when things are hard, that is the easy reaction of a spoiled child. True peace, contentment and comfort is found in releasing the anger and turning to the One we would run from. Like a parent who says no to a child because the time is not right or the request would bring harm unforeseen to the little one or allows pain for the greater good (like shots or dental visits), our Daddy loves us, and if we are in pain, there is always something beautiful and better than can come of it than if we could avoid and escape it.



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