“He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.”
-2 Cor. 1:4, NCV
“The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
“Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
Isaiah 33:14, ESV
There has to be some sort of confusion here. Some discrepancy, some incongruity, something overlooked. But things are never what they seem, and that is accentuated when we are in real pain. We think that whatever trouble we get enmeshed in, can’t have any real redeeming value. Or does it?
After a period of time walking with God, whose presence is true fire, we should process this prominent thought. Suffering is part of God’s idea. He has plans that hinge on our pain. It has been deliberately placed into our lives.
A competent pharmacist will be extremely aware of the drug he is filling for a patient. Never too much, nor too little. God is even more meticulous and acutely alert when it comes to suffering and pain. He has an intense love for you through it all. He drops in the proper amount needed for that moment. It is confined and designed to heal, grow, and strengthen. Never to harm or destroy. He is not punishing you.
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
Helen Keller
Keller understood. She was both deaf and blind, since infancy. From this dark and complete isolation, she broke through. Helen Keller became a potent and significant woman. She would graduate from college and became a famed public speaker of international renown.
“God never allows pain without a purpose in the lives of His children. He never allows Satan, nor circumstances, nor any ill-intending person to afflict us unless He uses that affliction for our good. God never wastes pain. He always causes it to work together for our ultimate good, the good of conforming us more to the likeness of His Son” (see Romans 8:28-29).
Jerry Bridges
Gold fears no fire.
We must believe pain has purposes. Life teaches us how to love. Some seem to go through life “charmed”, they are really not hurt in any substantial way. If that is the case, reach out and help someone else, for there’s certainly enough pain and evil to go around. (We should find ourselves actively sharing in the trials of others.)
I think that when a believer finally arrives in heaven, they will be ushered in limping, wounded, leaning on an angel for support. They will bring it all to Jesus, their scars remembered, and their sins forgiven. And we will be transformed, fit for heaven.
I’d like to share with you what I’m thinking this morning. I hope you will persevere and go through it. I identify with the “Man of the Tombs” so much. I am sometimes asked about mental illness and demon possession, but I can give no real light. All I know is that both are real and similar to each other. Evil however has a presence about it that can be addressed and cast out. Mental illness, on the other hand, is often a lifelong issue that requires management. To complicate things there can be a combo of the two, with demonic exacerbating the medical issue. God has gifted some in the Church with a gift “the discerning of spirits.”
