Positive Pain

As I listened to the message at church today, I thought a lot about personal pain. What kinds of pain are you struggling with? Perhaps the pain of unresolved conflict, struggles with the lies of the enemy, a broken relationship that needs mending, or less than ideal circumstances in some part of your life.

Today I ran across this quote from C.S. Lewis, and it sums up my life well. I don't think I've ever really struggled with believing God has my best in mind. I've always known it. And as I struggle with different aspects of my life, I see God at work.

• He has my best in mind in my financial situation - teaching me to rely on His provision. But continually struggling to pay my bills and manage my needs, and letting go of things I think I want and need, it has been painful at times. And also extremely humbling, maybe that's why it happens.
• He's at work in my singleness - showing me that He is enough. I recently embraced the scripture in Philippians 4:12 where Paul talks about embracing his circumstances, and "learning the secret of being content" no matter what befalls him. Look at VERB in this sentence - LEARNING. That implies that being content is not something that comes to us naturally, it is a learned behavior. I have a choice to teach myself this skill - with God's help - of being content. And I choose JOY! HOWEVER - do I desire more than anything to be married? YES I DO!
• Getting healthy is painful sometimes - God showed me early this year that I need to work on the fruit of self-control where my health is concerned. This manifests in taking in good things (healthy food choices, exercise, rest) and keeping out bad things (bad food, laziness, worry and stress). It's painful to let go of habits I've all for 50+ years now - BUT I KNOW IT'S SO I CAN BE MY BEST FOR GOD!

These are three examples from my own life that I struggle with from time to time. But I've learned to embrace the process, no matter how painful, so that my faith and my victory on the other side will be all the more sweet.

1 Peter 1: 6-7 is one of my favorite scriptures - "Greatly rejoice in your sufferings, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in (financial struggles, loneliness, healthy choices). These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold....may be proved genuine and may result in PRAISE, HONOR, and GLORY when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Wait, WHAT?! Christ will be revealed in my pain? Now THAT makes it worth fighting the battle. The assurance that, in the end, Christ will be victorious not DESPITE my struggles, but BECAUSE of them!

Yes, I do wonder at times how painful God's best for me will be. But, the best things never come easy. They cost us something. So we trust in God, and continue to seek Him in every circumstance. We already have the assurance that, with His all powerful guidance, we will emerge victorious.