The Opportunity of Pain [Blog]
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world....No doubt pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of the rebel soul.”
How appropriate an observation from Lewis for this day and hour. Unquestionably our world is in pain, but is it yet ready to face the hard truth?
Many are certainly ready and we, God’s sons, are on duty to be God's signposts to help bring the rest of the family home. This is our time to be about the Father's business and ready for the Master's return. But are we ready?
Some of us are and some of us are not.
Some parts of us are, and some parts are not.
I can feel in myself the temptation to fear. I can easily inspect the thousands of decisions I have made with my kids, marriage and calling and point the finger at ways I could have and should have built a stronger kingdom.
My soul is today being bombarded with accusation and questions I am powerless to answer, “Will my kids crack under the pressure the world is placing on them? Will they be able to judge wisely now that so many are calling evil “good” and good “evil”? Have I set my household up financially to endure another hit like we are experiencing from the coronavirus fallout? Should we send our kids to college far away given the landscape of our country right now?”
The enemy frames our situation to resemble a powerless captain whose ship is going down. He casts a vision of hopelessness. I might be quick to bite that baited hook were it not for God’s promise that those with God are never without hope.
What we need in situations that feel hopeless and burdensome is a fresh and more accurate picture of our situation. We need God’s vision. His perspective is our rescue.
This is a good time to ask God to remind us how far He has brought us. How much revelation has He given you in the last few years. How many rescues has He performed? Has He proven Himself loving and patient, or harsh and angry? Has He ever turned His back on you?”
Choosing to reflect on how much preparation I have received has proven more helpful than reflecting on how ill-prepared I feel.
This turn of perspective for me turned into a prayer, which led me to think of David as a young lad facing the giant. The shepherd boy was offered a choice between a man’s armor and God’s. One was heavy and ill-fitting, the other light and easy to fight in. Maybe Father used David’s choice to help Jesus in a difficult moment, and then prompted Jesus to invite us into the same absurd reality…
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened… Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
- MT 25:28-29
Or from the Message version:
“Come get away with me and learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
David chose the light and easy as we are all meant to. Maybe it was that one decision that made a thousand later decisions much easier for David, and earned him God’s favor as a man after God’s own heart.
The world is brutal so let's be kind to ourselves as we face the truth: It's time to lay down our heavy armor and lean more deeply into God's love and leadership. Victory is impossible without sonship.
Do you see this? It’s impossible. But with God we get to do the impossible possible. That’s our assigned task. And we get to hide from it, or face it like we would a giant.
Now is the time to let Jesus yoke Himself to us and teach us how to live freely and lightly (Matthew 11). It's time to learn to hear His voice more clearly (John 10). It's time to take refuge in the Secret Place (Psalm 91) and it's time to cling to His great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:3-5).
While the pain we see so tangibly today is real, it will never be more than the minor story. The major story is God’s love and victory which will soon bring down pain and all its dark companions with a single stone.
Some day soon evil and pain in every manifestation will become a mythic character in the larger heroic story of God’s goodness to us.
On that day, very soon, we will know a joy that would make our hearts fail if they were not made new.
Come soon Jesus. In us. Through us. Amen.
As Sons,
Jay