The Purpose of Pain!

I am so used to not living pain, that when I have pain, I act just like a baby. The other day I cracked a tooth and of necessity had to get it pulled – there was a live root that kept me aware that if I didn’t move on it, it would move on me! There were complications with getting the tooth pulled and I have been in one level of pain to another all day and night. Strange way to begin a post on heart – life!

And yet, pain is a part of life – just as is sorrow – just as is joy – just as is victory! Because I have been relatively healthy most of my life, pain to me has been a barometer that something was amiss in my body. I pay attention! I look for signs to see where the pain is and what might be causing it. I do the same thing when my heart hurts.

Much of my life growing up was not a happy time – there were many hurts and pain was a part of my daily experience – so I walked in kind of a numbness to it. AC (After Christ) my melancholy nature began to change and depression and sorrow were not my daily companions. Over the years I began to experience joy – different from happiness – because every day was not a happy day – but every day I could have joy! I could be grateful for the presence of the Lord in my life and tune in every day to that which He was keeping me from, even if it was not what I exactly desired. I would be able to bounce back from disappointment, or heartbreak because God always showed me what could have been if I had my way.

Part of our growth in Christ is recognizing that we don’t know it all – we can’t always get it right – and even when we do – stuff happens! We feel betrayed – rejected – we feel alone – deserted; we feel that no one understands us. It hurts! We have pain! Even when we don’t ask God why – we wonder, why God did you let me hurt?

This season we are looking at the Christ child, rather than the Christ who went to the cross – but in fact, He came to earth – to die – his destiny was set and even more God knew that He would hurt Him…

10Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him. Isaiah 53:10 (MSG)

God knew that the “temporary affliction” of the cross would reap eternal rewards – that the momentary death – would bring “life, life, and more life.”

It’s that way with us – if we can grasp the revelation –

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Grab Your Kairos Moment!
Maria