Purposeful Pain

In the darkest night when the tears are heavily flowing and the burdens cause your shoulders to bear down under the sheer weight of them, your heart tends to stay stuck in this moment of angst. Light doesn’t seem likely in such a pit of despair. Times like this filter in and out of all our lives at one point or another. Pain is present. This pain can take on a physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual form. Easily, we forget that there is a kind of beauty in pain and suffering. All throughout the Bible we can see the reality that it is through the very pain and suffering of our lives that the LORD shapes and molds us into creatures more and more like His image. We were created in His image, however- we don’t always resemble Him. Yet, if we can seek God and trust Him in our pain, we can be assured of a beautiful outcome; an end result worth pursuing. Our pain becomes not just a valley we must endure through, but a way of purpose in our lives. The very purpose of our existence is to worship the LORD with our whole being. Every aspect of who we are and what we do becomes centered with a Kingdom mindset, no matter us drudging through the valleys or enjoying the views from the mountain tops. Our pain can then become full of the purpose God designed for us as we invite Christ into the center of it and allow Him to lead us through it. Who we are walking into this pain is a very different person who comes walking out of it. And we will walk out of it. In fact, we can RUN out chasing hard after God Who draws us into the safety of His arms and gives us a new purpose and reason to live for Him each day! So, when we are facing the unknown, the hurt, the difficulties, the pain and suffering of this life…let us choose to press into Jesus, the One Who IS enough because we are not. Our singing hearts can be full of praise amidst the pain as purpose begins to take over in its place. True joy is found at this junction. Joy that depends not on circumstances or feelings but on Truth; the truth of Who Christ is and the truth of who we are in Christ. If we lack joy, it’s best to remember that joy is a choice. Let us CHOOSE JOY and walk in the pain with purpose and a renewed sense of the Savior of the world Who walks with us.“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God Who fulfills His purpose for me.” -Psalms 57:1-2 ESV