The problem of pain

I don’t think that I have one friend who has not at some stage of in life asked “why?”. Why did this happen? Why does it hurt so much? Many books have been written on pain and suffering and why it exists in the world and I recently read another one. I’m not going to suggest that I have the answer to it all and I’m not sure if anyone really has the perfect answer as each situation is different, but I’m going to offer a thought that will hopefully be encouraging.

When God created man, He gave him free will. We can thus choose to do what we want to do on this earth, but of course carry the consequences as well. God desires to have a real relationship with us and for a relationship to be real there must be a choice to love each other. God did not want to create robots and force them to love Him. God has already shown His love to us, but it is the choice of each person whether or not to reciprocate this love. God took this chance by allowing Jesus to die so that each person can be in a relationship with Him, but God has no guarantee that each person will eventually choose Him and consequently many people has rejected Him.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8

Instead people have chosen to follow their own selfish desires of greed, lust, envy and power leading to betrayal, adultery, anger, murder, oppression, strife, rivalry, slander and any other action imaginable to obtain more of what they desire. God has not made man to be evil, but made man with a choice and whether he chooses good or evil, it’s his choice. Unfortunately every action mentioned above will inflict pain and suffering on a person as a result of someone else’s actions. It was not God’s intention to expose the world to pain and suffering, but Adam and Eve had a choice and they chose to bring evil into the world by listening to Satan and betraying God.

God cannot just remove evil from the world as this would leave man without free will and choice, but what He can do is send someone who can identify with us in all our pain and suffering and eventually take us to heaven where there are no more tears of pain and suffering. Jesus can identify with each one of us in every way and can comfort us and carry us through any situation. He went through it all so that He can be it all for us in our time of need. There is no pain or suffering that He cannot relate to and He thus knows how you feel.

“For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Romans 4:15-16

Jesus endured the cross in order for Him to become our hope in our darkest hours. God will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus was left alone at the cross, crushed and forsook so that we can never be left alone, crushed or forsaken by God. He has once and for all reconciled us to God and no one can separate us from Him.

Be encouraged and know that God is with you and that Jesus knows exactly what you are going through and He is here to comfort you. He has no intention of leaving you to walk this road on your own even if it means carrying you through the darkest hours. “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9  

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

Song: You never let go - Matt Redman

Picture credit: smashinghub

With praise and thanksgiving!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thes 5:16-18

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:4-7

God wants us to “rejoice always”, “give thanks in all circumstances” and “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”.  It sounds so simple, but when we find ourselves in a desperate place of hopelessness, sadness or discouragement the last thing we feel like is praising and thanking God. Especially if you have been waiting and waiting for God to change your situation, to provide or to restore and you are not seeing any change.

I don’t know about you, but I have found this to be very challenging over the years. I don’t like pretending and I don’t like thanking and praising God in a fake way just because I’m supposed to. I want to thank Him from my heart in truth and love, but still the Bible tells me to “rejoice always” and “with thanksgiving”. So how do I do this without being fake?

My search has led me to the word “faith” and the definition of faith. Faith is knowing that you already have what you have asked for and faith comes from hearing the Bible. I looked for scriptures in the Bible to strengthen my faith and I started from there. I would find verses that tell me who God is and that He is faithful and I then thank Him because He is faithful, kind, gracious and in control. I thank Him for who He is and praise Him because He is God.

Then I look at scriptures which directly relate to my situation and I thank God for what He has already promised me. I allow them to give me hope and by the Spirit my faith grows and I start climbing the mountain, even if it is just with a small thanks. As we build our foundation on God and on who He is, the mountain becomes smaller and we become taller and we reach a point where we can look over the mountain and receive vision. We see God’s plans fulfilled and our needs met and we receive the peace of God which transcends all understanding.

Our mountain has not yet been moved but, we have already received the victory and we can walk out the last stretch with peace and joy, thanking Him for what we are about to receive. God knows that praise and thanksgiving focus our attention on Him and not on our circumstances, break the chains of despair and give us strength to persevere to the end.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” Acts 16:25-26

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Rom 8:38

Emotional pain: Ouch, it hurts..

I have never really dealt with death in my life as I have never lost someone that I immensely loved and cared for. I have been very fortunate so far, but I know inevitably it will happen and when that happens then maybe I'll rewrite this post. But for now I will talk about what I do know about.

Pain, emotional pain. The pain that makes you fall on the floor crying so hard that you think your insides are going to fall out. You feel like something inside broke beyond restoration and it hurts, it hurts so much and it's just so raw and so sore. Your heart is breaking, you feel betrayed, rejected, discouraged and you have no idea how you will move on beyond this point.

In that moment just cry out to God, just simply cry out, tell Him how you feel, how much it hurts and how angry you are. Scream if necessary and ask Him "why?" as many times as you'd like. He wants to hear from you, He loves you and He's not judging you. He knows how you feel and He wants you to be honest with Him about what's in your heart. He knows what is in your heart already, so just tell Him the truth in all harshness. He can deal with it. He wants to comfort you and He wants to give you peace and rest. Pain is relative, everybody reacts differently to situations and just because your pain might look less important in relation to pain in the world, does not mean that it’s not important. What’s important to you, is important to God.

"He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

I want to let you know that you will make it through, that you are not alone and that your heart can heal. You might have a scar, but no wound. Nothing missing and nothing broken. It is so important that you speak about your heartache. Do not bottle it up and deal with it alone. You will be surprised how many people there are who have suffered in the same way and who is willing to walk this road with you. Do not be ashamed and do not isolate yourself. Satan will do anything to keep you hurting. He will convince you that people don't care, that they are too busy or that they think you are pathetic. Do not believe his lies. You are not alone!

If your hurt relates to a loved one: You will never forget your loved one or the time you spent together, but don't let this pain dictate the basis for future happiness, friendships or relationships. It will if you do not let the wound heal properly. Jesus is the great comforter and there is no wound that He cannot heal. We must only be willing and He will do the rest. Take a step towards this journey with Him, even if it means going back a few years to the origin of the hurt, just take a small step and He will lead you in the most beautiful way.

Also:

1. Cry, a lot, as much as you want to and need to.

2. Rest, give yourself a break and look after yourself.

3. Eat, every food that you love.

Enter into God's rest and remember that you are incredibly loved by the One who holds the universe in His hands.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, because God is for me. In God whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Psalm 56:8-11

To the nations and beyond!

Tonight I found myself playing around on Google Maps. There is so much of the world that I haven’t yet and probably will never see. I found myself looking at cities which are currently at war and the devastation that they are in. I kept thinking that it is the last place on earth that I would want to live!

As I look at the pictures I feel God saying: “I love those people.” My heart feels like breaking. Who will tell them that they are loved? Who will tell them that they are cared for? Who will tell them that there is a hope that defeats the horror of fear and death?

I guess the answer is: no one. No one if we don’t go, if we don’t move, if we don’t leave our comfortable homes to make a difference in this world. The love of God in our hearts should be so strong that we ask Him: “What do you want us to do? Send us!”.

This does not mean that each one of us needs to leave his own country, it just means that we need to be willing, willing to go where no one has gone or dared to go before, even if it’s in our own backyards. If God is with us, who can be against us? The safest place to be is in the will of God, exactly where God wants you to be. He is preparing the way before us and all we need to do is ask where.

The love of the Hope of the world is in us and we carry an extraordinary responsibility to carry the power of His love to the world. Without hope there is no love. ^“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Rom 10:14-15

Let’s take the challenge, put our selfishness aside, get out of our comfort zones and respond with a willing heart and surely, through us, Love will find them!

These are just a few amazing websites of brave people who have left their homes for the sake of the gospel and in so doing has changed nations!

India, Biju Thampy - http://www.visionrescue.org.in/viewNavMenu.do?menuID=7
Greece, Abolishing salvery in the 21^st century  - http://www.thea21campaign.org/
Mozambique, Roland & Heidi Baker - http://www.irismin.org/
Hong Kong, Jackie Pullinger - http://www.ststephenssociety.com/
Worldwide, Joyce Meyer - http://www.joycemeyer.org/HandOfHope/default.aspx
Worldwide, Reinhard Bonnke - http://www.cfan.org/

It reminds me of this song: J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNsm9AHAJsU&feature=related

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ 
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39