For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiates 3:1-8)
Pain is a part of life, but even though we as humans tend to shy away from pain, God doesn’t. Pain can be a physical feeling from our nerve signals, but it is also an emotion that often is far deeper than any physical pain felt. Pain is something that God feels, and He felt it both physically and emotionally the way we do, yet even deeper than we have ever experienced or can ever imagine.
As Jesus lived His life here, pain was a part of the process.
- Pain was part of the process when He wept over Lazarus’ death, feeling the loss He never intended for us to experience. (John 11:35)
- Pain was part of the process when He wept over the city of Jerusalem heartbroken that His people didn’t know the day of their visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)
- Pain was part of the process when He received brutal whippings, creating stripes in His flesh by which we are healed. (Luke 27:26; Isaiah 53:5)
- Pain was part of the process when He received nails in His hands by which our sins would be nailed to the cross. (1 Peter 2:24)
- Pain was part of the process when He became sin by which we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)_
- Pain was part of the process when He was forsaken by the Father so that we’d never be forsaken. (Luke 26:46; Hebrews 13:5)
And pain is still part of the process when God sees us hurt, abused, abandoned, brokenhearted…
One of the hardest parts is often coming to a place of accepting that pain is going to be a part of our process, and still choosing to move forward in it. We want the healing, we want the progress and the good outcome, because we view those as good things, but the pain in between – that we tend to see as negative and something to be avoided at all costs. But if we can change our perspective on pain, that place of acceptance, as we’re being sanctified and refined, and ultimately coming to a place of healing will come easier.
When we face hurt in this life, it marks us and we feel pain.
If we avoid dealing with it, it festers like a cancer that will slowly kill us. Jesus died that you would be set free, be healed, and live an abundant life in Him. If you stay ensnared in your hurts, it’s only letting the enemy win in his endeavor to steal, kill, and destroy you. Just as satan desired to do with Peter, he seeks to sift you like wheat, BUT JESUS PRAYS FOR YOU!
What emotional pain have you been carrying?
How long have you been carrying this?
Isn’t it time to trust God’s healing hand in this area of your hurt even though it’s painful?
The process of healing is long and hard and painful, but it’s assuredly going to be part of yielding the beauty of God’s masterpiece in you. The locusts may have eaten from the field of your life, but God can restore to you the years that have been taken and He will deal wondrously with you (Joel 2:25-26).
Just as we read in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time to break down and weep and mourn and heal – and pain is a part of that process. Don’t let your fear of pain cripple the healing process that will bring you the freedom and joy that God has for you. Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5b).
“Pain and trials are almost constant companions, but never enemies. They drive me into His sovereign arms.” (Kay Arthur)