Pain May be Part of the Plan

In going over some of my archives, I came across this article I had written a few years back and thought it was worth reposting in light of the present circumstances. 

“Pain, suffering, trouble, adversity, temptation, affliction, can exercise a wonderful ministry of spiritual discipline, refinement, and enrichment.

Some flowers, as the rose, must be crushed before their full fragrance is released. Some fruit, as the sycamore, must be bruised before it will attain ripeness and sweetness. Some metals, as gold, must be flung into the furnace before they reach full value and purity The old oak log must be laid on the fire, and the flames encircle it, before its imprisoned music is set free.

 So is it with the saints. It is true with many of us that we must be laid low before we will look high. We must know God's smiting before we can appreciate His smiling. The Potter must break the vessel before He can make out of the same material a new and beautiful vase. Our hearts must be broken before their richest contents can leak out and flow forth to bless others.

 But whenever God sends a trial with one hand, He gives grace with the other. Thus trials become triumphs. Burdens become wings. Affliction, instead of being a bed of thorns and a pathway of nettles, becomes a quilt of roses.

The very things which seem to break us are the things which really “make” us.

Lo, God is in the hurricane, and instead of driving us to destruction, it beats the scared mariner into that safest of all harbours, the encircling arms of God's love!”  J. Sidlow Baxter

In reading this passage this morning, I was reminded how true it is. That 'pain may be part of the plan'. I also realised that I wasn't able to explain it any better, so I decided to write out the whole passage to share.

So often, we think that 'pain' in our Christian walk is not supposed to happen. We get the idea that if we're walking close to the Lord and serving Him faithfully, that we won't struggle with trials and disappointments. Where in the Bible do we find that??

1 Peter 4:19

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God

 commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 

Did you get that, “according to the will of God”?

Meaning, it is the will of God that we suffer. He alone knows what's

best for us and what we need to endure in order to become more like Him.

And because we are all unique individuals, we have tailor made sufferings

to bring us closer to Him and to refine us and rid us of impurities in our lives.

As I've written so many times before, trials are often blessings in disguise.

There are certain people in Christian circles, that have this idea,

that if you're suffering, then you must be sinning.

Well, I know one thing. My Lord Jesus NEVER sinned. Was perfect.

Sinless. Holy.  Righteous. And yet, read this verse:

Hebrews 2:10

For it became him, for whom are all things,

and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,

 to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

The Lord Jesus Himself even suffered! The Crown of thorns

was in God's eternal plan. The Cross was but a step to the throne.

When we look at suffering in that light, we might just

change our perspective on how we view our trials.

Here we have the Lord Jesus, the only sinless and perfect

being, suffering as part of God's plan.

Suffering so that we might be free.

There are so many discouragements and disappointments

in our lives and often we feel like all we do is struggle and battle on a

day to day basis. But if we could only grasp that it may be part of the

plan and that God has a purpose and a work to do.

Would we look at our sufferings in a different light? Would we be able to be

content to go through the furnace of fiery trials?  Could we hold

our head high and give praise to a righteous God who knows

exactly what he's doing?

And when we come out the other side,

would we be willing to thank Him for the trial, and praise Him for the

blessing it turned out to be in our lives?

Our trials can become triumphs and our burdens, wings.

It all comes down to our response to Him.

Are we resisting the purifying work of the Lord in our lives?

Or are we letting it drive us into the 'encircling arms of His love'?

Let Go

and

Let God!