He Speaks Through Our Pain

Hi,
 
“We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities, and everyone who has watched a glutton shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
C. S. Lewis

Two of my dear family members have recently suffered with great pain.  So often, Christians experience pain on seemingly intolerable levels. A brother-in-law shared with me, how close he had been drawn to God during his time of suffering.  What keeps the Christian going through the hard times and trials of life is the fact that God is in control.  When that truth is magnified in our knowledge, Christ can help us strengthen our dependence on Him.

Yet unfortunately today, much of the Christian message has been distorted, with many “preachers” of the Word proclaiming that God only wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. This is a dangerous message not only because it isn’t biblical, but because it directly contradicts the experiences of so many faithful followers of Christ.

Pain is real. But in Christ, you have the assurance that it’s temporary.  Remember Luther on his sick-bed?  Between his groans he managed to preach on along this line:  "These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards, and they seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading."

So if you’re suffering today, deepen your dependence on God and remember that there will come a day when all pain will end and you’ll be with the Lord forever!
 
"....neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away."  Revelation 21:4b

May the Comforter bless your day, and may you know that you are loved!!!

Henry