"Pain is not the enemy"

Pain.  Many of us despise it—find it despicable and do our best to avoid it.  Have you ever stopped to think, to conclude that pain is not your enemy, and very well could be your gift?

I know it sounds crazy, but what does pain do, what is it for?  It alerts us to problems or potential problems.  It tells us to check out a situation, to dig deeper and go further.  If there is no pain, how would we know to seek out the care of a medical professional?  If there is no pain, what would make us draw nearer to God?

My hope this morning is to encourage those of you who are experiencing pain now, and for those who will come to experience it in the future to remember, "There is always purpose beyond our pain."  If you take nothing else away from this blog today please carry that with you close to your heart.  And even more so remember that this is particularly true of pain when you are a child of the Almighty God.

God uses circumstances in our lives ... any circumstance, even the ones that we deem "ugly" to bring about beauty, joy, and good.  Just flip through the pages of your Bible, and you will read story after story of how God brought beauty from the ashes of someones pain.  "I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born." says God in Isaiah 66:9. 

If you are experience pain dearest one, I highly recommend the book, "Finding purpose beyond our pain."  It is an excellent and very helpful read.  And please, those of you who are experiencing hardships and tough times—remember that "Everything if given to God can become your gateway to joy."  Everything means exactly what it says ... everything!

Be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.  So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. ( 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT)

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Also I turned 45 today.  I'm bitter-sweet.  Happy of course that I am alive and breathing, and am healthy, but I also know that I am getting up there.  Like to believe that I am growing old gracefully.  My 11 year old daughter told me last night {well at midnight} after giving me my card, that my husband and I were going to be really old when my seven year old daughter turns 15.  I said, "No Kristen we will be in our 50's."  She said, "I know that's real old."

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Thanks for reading ... please watch the video below.  I love it.  It always gives me a good chuckle.  I remember doing this with my babies.