Pain Is a Reality Revealer

 

Do you sense God's presence during painful times, or does He seem so far away?  Does prayer make a difference when you are in pain?  Does your faith help you remain steadfast and hopeful in painful times?   

Times like these, it isn't easy to trust that God has a plan. It is hard to lean on God when you don't know if you will survive the night or not.

 So what do you do when the reality of your mortality confronts you with pain and agony you cannot completely control?   What prayers can comfort you in these times of uncertainty?  How do you keep trusting when you are struggling so?

Pain is a reality revealer. It reveals that we really cannot control much of anything for any length of time.  And for me, it brought me to my figurative knees that life or death, pain or comfort was ultimately up to God.  And in so doing—praying in the pain, accepting it for as long as God let it remain, for whatever reason He brought me to face it.  It was an exercise of my faith and commitment which brought me closer to God.  Things of earth grew strangely dim, as I remember how nothing mattered but relief when confronted with the pain. God got bigger and closer, felt His love deeply in the pain.  And I realized in this reality confrontation that what was brought to me through pain was truly life-changing.  And that serving God is the only truly important and lasting thing I can do while I am still here.


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