Pain

I finished reading The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis a few weeks ago. It's a book I recommend as Lewis talks about why humans go through pain and how God uses it to grab our attention. Lewis says that pain is God speaking through a megaphone telling us to approach Him and give our all to Him.

Right now I'm going through a tough time emotionally and I'm feeling a lot of pain in my life. They say that God has a plan for everything and everything always works out for the best, but when you're in pain, it's hard to see that. When you're in the midst of the storm, it's hard to see the sunlight waiting on the other side. I understand that God has something better out there, but when I'm in the midst of pain it's hard to fully comprehend that. As humans we love to live in the here and now. We're all about gratifying our immediate desires. As a result we often find it hard to fully understand the big picture. Like Job, sometimes God puts us through a troubling situation in order that we emerge from that troubling time with more blessing.

Psalm 34:18 says that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and that's a verse I've been clinging onto for the past several days. That's the beauty of Christianity. When it seems like everything is dark and meaningless, we have hope to cling onto. No matter what we're going through, we have the hope of Jesus Christ and the Comforter that is among us, the Holy Spirit. God has promised to always be with us and God never goes back on His promise. Jesus himself went through much pain in his earthly life so Jesus can identify with our pain. He knows what we're going through. But by the grace of God, we have the Holy Spirit, our link to God's presence to comfort us through everything that we go through. Although it can be hard to want to worship God in the midst of pain, that is when we should worship Him the most. Sometimes God has to put us through the fire in order that we emerge as refined gold. And though the pain may hurt, God will never put us through something that we won't be able to bear. And we must always remember that in the midst of pain, we have the Lord of the universe at our side in order help us through the tough moments. So don't be afraid to cry or to get angry. Embrace your emotions. Let the tears come. Let the anger show. But never forget that God is still there by your side.