The Pain Helps

 I know!

I know the title is a wild one. 

How could something that makes me feel like I am so close to dying help?

How could these issues and problems that I am face with on a daily assist me?

They seem to be doing more harm than good. 

You don't seem to know what you're talking about, girl. 

Trust me!

I get the outrage, too. Matter of fact, I can stand on your side of the protest as well because I see it as bizarre and insensitive. 

The pain helps???

What kind of backward thinking is that?

I agree, but I stumbled upon something that made me see that this theory isn't as crazy as we think it is. 

2 Corinthians 12:8

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me" 

Now, I understand that this is an incomplete excerpt from something bigger. 

That line doesn't explain much but stick with me, I am going somewhere. 

The verse came before a very popular verse that we love to quote by the way, but before we go onto that, let me tell you who said this. 

It was Paul. 

The great Apostle in the New Testament. 

The context of it all was that Paul was experiencing some real setbacks in life. He describes his tests as a thorn to his side.

Something that was constant in tormenting him. 

The verse sticks out to me because it clarifies that Paul asked God repeatedly to deliver him from this consistent pain, but God didn't. 

Three times!

Three times Paul went to God to please heal him. To please deliver him! To please set him free from this hellhole, but God was like nope!

Instead, and this is the popular verse here, God answered "My Grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness" (Verse 9)

Whew!

Mind blown!

Don't get me wrong, I have heard this scripture many times, but I am hoping like me, you noticed that Paul had actually asked God three times to deliver him from this continuous torture. 

This blew my mind because what Paul went through and what God allowed him to continue is no different from us who are faced with trials and obstacles that we seem to get at every different turn in our lives. 

I am sure everyone that is reading this and even me who is writing this are experiencing something that we have been plagued with for some time now that we just can't seem to shake. 

We have asked God to deliver us, to heal us, to restore us, and to simply get rid of this thorn, but it's like a cycle that keeps coming back. 

We have questioned why.

Why can't we overcome this? 

Why can't we finally be free from this?

Today, I have brought to you a possible answer. 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness"

Sometimes the things we deal with in life are not taken away by God because it is needed on our journey to propel us to destiny. 

The hardships, the trials, the persecutions, the pain, the sickness, the divorce, the shame, the hurt everything that seems like it's one step away from killing you from the inside out, is the adding agent to help us reach succession. 

It helps keep us on the straight and narrow road. 

It helps keep us in line. 

It's because every time we may get comfortable, that pain, that test or trial comes to jest us back into position. 

It comes to poke us and remind us of the promises we made. For Christ, we live and for Christ, we die. 

It comes to guide us back on track when we start to get too relaxed in veering off course. 

Imagine Paul not having that thorn on his side to keep him close to Jesus. 

He wouldn't have been able to tell us how to remain in Christ. 
He wouldn't have been able to tell us that it produces character and hope. Or, that although we fall and stumble, God's strength is getting stronger and stronger for us to rely on. 

In most cases, where pain seems like the victor it changes when faith was given to God. 

When we stop focusing on what is weakening us and start depending on the strength of God we change the narrative. 

We change the narrative of whatever it is taking us out or breaking us down into what keeps us in and helps us stay right. 

I know there are many things I have questioned God about when it comes to the test and trials.

I didn't understand why there are constant obstacles in my way. 

It was easy to slip into complaining about always dealing with hardships and issues. 

Easier to ask, why was this happening to me?

Why is this always happening to me?

But, it wasn't until I realize that because of the issue I was staying in line with God. 

I was staying closer to Him. 

It kept me in prayer. It kept me in His presence. 

In His Word. Seeking His strength. 

Now, I am not trying to push the notion that God is some bully that allows hurtful things to happen to us so that He can have control over us. 

That is not the case at all. 

God always gives us choices. 

I want you to understand that hardships and issues WILL come to us whether we are saved or not!

Whether you are in the world or in Christ you will experience tough times. 

However, with God, He is saying that when you experience these hardships and you rely on him. His strength is given to you. 

Not only that but His Grace is sufficient for you while it happens. 

His grace is sufficient for you when you fall. 

When you slip up or stumble. 

His grace is like insurance. It's available for the entire time you battle this thorn and when you fall every now and again, you can rely on it. 

So, yes, I am crazy to believe the pain helps. 

The thorn in our sides helps. 

And I hope after reading this, you see just how valuable that bump in the road is important for our elevation. 

~TheRay