Your Pain is for a Purpose

This is not a popular subject, but it’s one that every believer in Jesus Christ has to face at some point in their life. If I’ve learned anything as a Christian it’s don’t pray for patience and don’t pray for pain. Who wants to hurt on purpose? However, I’ve learned through experience that it’s in those painful times I’ve grown and learned the most about myself and about the ways of God. During those unbearable and uncomfortable painful moments, I’ve come to realize that God was giving me a gift to help me grow! The Bible says in James 1:2,3 that we should get excited when trials, trouble or pain comes our way because God is putting our faith (what we say we believe) to the test so that we can have endurance and have a character that lacks nothing. It’s during the hard and painful times in my life I’ve received the privilege to deepen my relationship with God the most. Can you imagine the God who created the entire universe and who is always at work helping others and keeping the world held together, cares about your character and my character that He gives us the privilege of pain. That blows my mind. God, the great I AM cares that you and I develop into what He has in mind for our lives. Our Father takes the time to walk us through the trial that we may feel is going to take us out and develops another part of our character that needs attention, then rewards us at the end of the trial with an advancement to the next level. God uses these occasions to help us grow closer to Him and our purpose. So the next time you experience a painfully hard situation, remember God has stopped running the universe for a second to help you get to the next level so you will be on time for your next life assignment. You can catch Pastor Ray and Stephanie on their weekly show “Inspire TV” on the Cross Network every Tuesday at 3pm. Visit www.inspireim.org for more information and to subscribe to their mailing list.