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dealing with pain


Life comes with pain.  We have all been those times.  We are currently sharing a series at The Community Fellowship called BUILT GOD TOUGH, and we are looking through issues of life that God intends for us to win through and to learn from our weaknesses.  How we deal with pain and struggles speaks directly to our faith or lack of faith.

James 1:2-4 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Several weeks ago I shared these verses in a message, and I confessed that having joy in rough circumstances is a foreign concept.  It really isn’t foreign for people of faith.  Joy isn’t based on how we feel or on our situation.  Joy is based on what we believe, and as we believe what God says, we will have more and more joy.

Confess that you deal with trouble and weakness, and that suffering is something that God intends for us to learn from.  When pain comes, there are many ways to deal with it, ways we can turn from it or ways we can learn and grow stronger through it.

Does this kind of pain stop you or does it grow your faith?  One of those is true in your life.  Being honest isn’t easy, but it will take you to the next level with God.

The stories of people around us dealing with pain would shock us.  But their stories would also teach us.  This pain is difficult and even seems unfair at times.  Listening to God and learning from us we will be stronger and gain momentum for what God has for us.

Take what God says at face value.  Believe God.  Allow His strength to be in place when you are weak.

Who do we believe God?  Are we prepared for the difficulties times?  The Bible has to have a place in our lives to let us interact with God, to prepare us, to shape us and even more to share His heart with us. 

The staying or son we have heard really is true --- what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.  When we find ourselves unstable through the pain, it is time to admit that we are doubting.  When we doubt what God can or will do, we are in trouble.  

We must face our pain head on.  Getting through it isn’t easy, but God gives us perspective.  Ask God for wisdom and believe God.  The truth is getting through the pain is one thing God wants to do for us.

James 1:5-8 NKJV
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

We all need His wisdom to keep us from being tossed around by the waves of doubt and the pain of our struggles.  Believe God, and His joy will be even more real in our lives.
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