LEARN
Are you desperate to be healed from your pain?
I get it. It is not a fun path to be in constant disorientation and discomfort, and because of the pain it is easy to go straight to fixing what you think is broken. It is easy to see suffering as a narrow doorway of only grief, and purposelessness where you long for the door to be opened so you can starting living your life again- living that life that is filled with filled with purpose and joy. In our pain we can struggle to see that both suffering & joy, and pain & purpose can be met together.
When we are in pain, we naturally want to do anything we can to get out of that suffering. However, before we begin to talk about how to fix our pain, we must first confront our pain. It is in confronting the reality of our pain that we are able to not be motivated by the fear of the pain but see it as something God is using for our good. This confronting of pain was something as a Biblical Counselor I knew, but as Jaime I did not fully understand until I had no choice but to face it.
I am just one person, and my experience is obviously different than yours, however I relate with those of you struggling with chronic illness and various forms and levels of pain. I relate to the uncertainty, frustration, and flat out difficulty in how it can effect EVERY part of your life. I suffer with you and for you in that, and more importantly God is also suffering with you. He suffers for us while also growing us closer to Him. He knows your pain, and is able to heal us yes, but more importantly save us. He is with us in our suffering and the first thing we have to do is recognize our suffering. We must fully confront where we are at so we can actively participate in the day God has set before us and the purpose He has for us even in our suffering.
KNOW
So however you are suffering today whether it is physical, mental, relational, financial, spiritual...
YOU ARE NOT ALONE and YOU ARE NOT WORTHLESS.
GOD LOVES YOU and HAS NOT ABANDONED YOU.
In fact it is quite the opposite, HE LOVES YOU.
DO
If you are dealing with illness or suffering of any kind and have not confronted the reality of the situation, I ask you to consider doing so. Consider what it might look like to see where you are and what you are navigating instead of only wishing it was gone, or waiting until it is fixed.
How might this shape your current experience in working through your pain? Then if you do decide to walk through your pain, I also recommend you open up to someone so you are not dealing with it alone.
And lastly, but most importantly, bring those burdens and feelings to God. God knows all and sees all. So even when we feel nobody else understands what we are going through, He does.
