A Reason To Persevere In Times Of Hurt

I was always told as a child that no matter how painful it was, God never put us through anything we couldn't handle. I have since learned that not only is this true, but also what we go through, however hard it may be, it only helps us to learn how to deal with future trials. Challenges only make us stronger.

I have found that however weak our hearts may be, we are not that weak we cannot stand the pain, and, however strong we may be, we are not so strong that pain can't touch us!

All those people out there who will not cry when they are hurt, if anything, are the ones who are in the most pain. This is not to say that they are strong. Because strength comes from being able to face the pain and deal with it no matter how hard the blow is. The tears are what help to heal the wounds from the pain. They are the way we acknowledge that, yes, we are hurting and no, it doesn't feel good. The tears are our form of releasing the hurt. How can we release it if we don't cry and we just keep bottling it all up inside? I know this because I was one of those people!

I was one of those people, who, while going through my young teenage years, would not let anyone see me cry. I didn't trust anyone and nor did I think anyone was worthy of seeing my tears because the only people who had offered a shoulder to cry on were the very ones who I had been hurt by. The pain grew as it was bottled up and at the age of 17 it blew up in my face. I yelled at the top of my lungs at my parents in an argument. I look back now at my life and for that 20 minutes when I let loose, I am so ashamed. Believe it, bottling up your problems has no good come of it, eventually that cork is going to come loose and when it does you will have one memory that's likely to make you feel guilty every time you remember it.

Pain. Because of so many personal memories, we are all familiar with the word. But when kept for long enough it can turn into hatred, anger, self-pity, fear, even murder. A danger to anyone who knows the Lord and has a walk with God, a danger for them because they know very well when they walk in these sins and interact with these demonic spirits they can very well go to hell. And for the unsaved it is the same also. But can you imagine the immense turmoil they go through when they hold on to not only the pain, but the rest of these things too? If you thought you were in a bad place before, wait till it gets past pain. You will find yourself blaming people for things that went wrong in your life.

You'll be having pre-meditated arguments in your head. If it gets really deep, you'll be imagining your fist in someone's face and thinking about how good it would feel. You'll be telling your friends about how horrible your life has been because of what people did to you. And worst of all your pain is remembered in every single detail until you are ready to burst at the seams in absolute rage. When all you needed to do was let it go and carry on. So you are left where nobody would wish you to be, in your own miserable self-pity. And the most miserable part, the most excruciating thing about this is… in your dwelling on the thing that person did or said to hurt you in the first place, it's no longer that person's fault, nobody put you in your miserable state but yourself. Yet, when you see people, watch and listen to people you think it is just so stupid and childish because you can see how easy and how simple it is to just get on with it and forget it. How hard and difficult we can make our lives when we forget the words of our Lord and Savior, when he talks about loving each other as He has loved us (John 13:34-35). When he talks about forgiveness. What is it that makes it so hard for you to go to that person and ask for forgiveness, forgetting what was said, forgetting what was done and realizing that it doesn't matter if that person hurt you, for the Lord says, vengeance is mine (Deuteronomy 32:35). But asking for forgiveness for the murder and persecution and curses you have placed on your brother or sister in your heart! What is it that keeps you from seeing how much your attitude has hurt everyone around you because they see from watching how unhappy you are and they care for you and love you. When one part of the body of Christ hurts, the rest of the body hurts all the same (1 Corinthians 12:26).

Then there are the ones who do cry. Picture this… A young girl did something wrong. She went to her parents to tell them in the hope they would forgive her for her honesty. When she had said all she had to say, she looked at them with a guilty face and apologetic eyes, she was truly sorry. Her parents forgave her, but gave her a punishment and after telling her they loved her, sent her to her room.

How this girls' parents would have loved to just forgive her and leave it at that, but without punishment she would probably have done it again. So they punished her, and she never did it again. But how did she react?

The girl went to her room as told, she sat on the bed and cried. She cried all night until she fell asleep. She cried because nobody understood her. She cried because she could never do anything right. She cried because she was sorry and told her parents without being caught first and they still punished her!

The next day, she went to school and told all her friends what her parents had done to her. She felt a little better each time a friend told her how mean her parents were. In fact, by the time she got home, she was smiling and had forgotten all about it. But when her mother reminded her of her punishment the tears came back.

Did she deal with it? No, she cried, but she was still angry at the ones who hurt her (Proverbs 15:10-12).

One thing we need to understand about dealing with pain, is that crying may acknowledge that it's there, it may even help to release it, but it doesn't get rid of it. Forgiveness gets rid of the pain.

It's when we can honestly look at the person who caused our pain and say, "I love this person."

Pain doesn't heal in 5 minutes, it takes time. If we are willing to put in an effort it can be dealt with quite easier than we often think. We can either look at the situation from our point of view, where all we see is what's happening to us, or we can see it from another point… where is this going? How can I deal with it? How am I going to react? And more importantly…"Lord, what are you trying to show me, teach me and change in me?"

How would you react if you found out that your only love in life was to leave you for something better? How would you react if a person you trusted betrayed you? How would you react if you found the one person you dreamt of all your life, and you couldn't have them? How would you react if you had an idol and God said you had to give it up?

There are so many different situations that come across our paths in life. But it's all in the way we think. We can get past the brick walls that we come to. We can get through the trials we face. But I have found, the best way to do it, is through the one who knows and sees our hurts…GOD.

If there was ever anyone who understood us so perfectly, it's God. After all, wasn't it He, who so willingly offered His only son to die for us?

If there was ever anyone who knew more pain than any of us, it was Christ. Wasn't He the one, who so lovingly took the pain and lay down His life?

Have you noticed that no matter how bad your pain and no matter how big your problem, none comes close to what Jesus went through?

Have you noticed that after giving His Son, God was satisfied and full of joy? I beg to differ if you think God felt no sadness when He saw His Son die!

Did you notice, Christ was in immeasurable pain when he died, both physically and spiritually? Yet He forgave us. But He also died and after being raised, was full of joy because He had fulfilled His Father's plan. He knew where He was going.

What I am trying to say, is that there is always a reason we face the trials we do. If Christ, being human, can endure all of the persecution, hardships, temptations and trials, we can too. This is why we are never put through anything we can't handle. Because of Christ. It's not our strength, it's His.

Who's strength are we using? How are we dealing with those things that hurt us? Do we see what joy is going to come out of it? When someone says or does something to hurt you or someone you love, do you look at yourself and ask if any of it is true? Do you go straight to God and say, "okay Lord, this wouldn't have been said if there wasn't something I need to deal with." Do you thank that person for having enough courage to risk a relationship that means a lot to them for the sake of your salvation? Do you even think about how that person must feel, being led of the Holy Spirit to go to you and share something with you that they know is going to hurt, they know there is a possibility of losing a relationship, they spend all night on their knees before God begging for Him to find another way, but yet they care enough to still come to you out of love (John 5:34-47). See, we don't very often think about the endless hours the other person has spent before God do we. Instead we, in our own ignorance give in to our selfishness and foolish pride that what should be an occasion of absolute joy and gratefulness to God for giving us someone who loves us that much and cares so much about our salvation, has turned into self-pity and shutting off the ones who care for us. And still, how much does that other person hurt, not only feeling bad because you're angry with them, but also feeling like they have failed the Lord in the task that He gave them.

If there is one thing God has taught me of late, it is that after pain comes joy. Seriously, there is always a reason to be happy during painful times. God always gives us something to be thankful for, it doesn't matter how great our pain (Philippians 4:4-9).

Next time someone hurts you, try sitting down with God for just a minute and ask Him what He's trying to tell you. Think on the good things and take a while before you say anything. The Lord doesn't allow things to happen without having something there to minister to us. You have to persevere and seek the Lord through your hurt to see what there is in your life that needs to change. Once you've found it, seek Him again and ask what you need to do to deal with it. Always remember that "this too shall pass" and look for the good in it, no matter how hard it is, if you really honestly try, you will find something to be thankful for (Psalm 86:4-13). Don't blame the person who hurt you, because regardless of what their heart attitude was or their intent, it was the Lord's plan that it happened to you (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)! You have a choice, for the Lord gave us all free will, you can take what has happened and seek the Lord, deal with it and change, or you can get angry and selfish, feel sorry for yourself and shut yourself off from the world and in so doing fall into deeper sin. Be reminded, that if you died today in the spiritual state you are in, right this minute, where will your soul go? To Heaven or to Hell?

We encourage you brothers and sisters, love the Lord thy God with all of your heart, and find your peace in Him. For to everything there is a purpose…His purpose.

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