Weekly Devotional #012

Sitting With Your Pain

Life is hard – let’s not sugar coat it. Heartbreak and tragedy find us, and they tend to unpack their belongings and stay longer than expected; they overstay their welcome without consulting us. We feel this pain and wonder, “God, where the heck are you? I thought you loved me!”

These thoughts and emotions are real; they are not to be dismissed by Christianese reminders to ‘Just pray about it’, or ‘God knows best’. Yes, these things are all true, but I believe we need to let people sit with the reality of their pain and allow for God to work the mess of it all.

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2

On the onset, this passage can be seen as just another passage. However, this declaration of peace – of humble surrender – is coming from Job, a man who lost it ALL! The entire book of Job is account of man sitting with pain, gut wrenching pain. There are SO many gems in this book, but I want to focus on one overarching theme – man’s wrestle with tragedy and pain.

Family, it’s OK to wrestle with your pain. It’s OK to bring your frustration and anger to the Lord. It’s OK to inquire about His purposes for your pain. God is not insecure – He is not offended nor threatened by the depths of our emotional expression. He is God, of course, and we should approach Him with reverence. However, our reverence shouldn’t be void of genuine emotion and transparency.

The Lord is inviting you and I to invite Him into the mess of life. He has NO problem getting His hands dirty with our pain and our inability to process its weight. He’s inviting us to share the burden with Him for however long it takes. He is patient, He is kind, He is truth, He is comforting. Receive all He has to offer you.

God bless,
Sheim