Tuesday, October 07, 2008

The Benefit of Pain

In talking about the seemingly insurmountable odds that Benaiah the lion chaser faced I mentioned in this past Sunday's message that it is in the midst of such awful odds that God shows up. It is in the midst of such uneven odds after we have exhausted all of our human effort that God's miraculous provision is released. Such truth might cause us to approach those times when the odds are stacked against us differently. We might come to view those times when the odds are stacked against us not only as difficult times, but times where the Spirit of God is unleashed and we see the God of miracles at work.

What goes when the odds are against us also goes when we experience pain. Again, this is not a pleasant experience. Yet pain in this life is an opportunity to experience God in some profound ways as we grow in faith and receive his comfort in times of distress and as we learn how utterly dependant we are on him. Perhaps this is what Jesus was getting at when he said "take up your cross and follow me."

The cross is not only something to be worn around the neck. It is a symbol of pain. It is a symbol of having the odds stacked against you (Jesus did!) But thanks be to God it is in the end a symbol of redemption!!- a redemption though that is not possible until there is first pain.

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