God ♥ You
5.42 audio clip on pain.
Life is painful and that’s a given.
Pain wasn’t always a problem. In its original state the world God created was free of pain. A living, vibrant presence of peace and joy filled the earth’s atmosphere. Everything was perfect. The new earth experienced a profound sense of love as it enjoyed its supernatural creative birthing. Our earth knew its God-inspired birthright and divine inheritance as part of the eternal plan. This included a God-to-human, human-to-God circular relationship. Adam and Eve delighted in God and God delighted in them. Life was pain free and beautiful.
Pain causes devastation.
Adam and Eve hid from God when the perfect world was spoiled as pain and suffering lay claim to it. Physical, mental and emotional pain became part of human existence. Pain’s presence marks us in the hidden places where we hide our hurts behind fortified emotional walls. This strategy never works too well. We all struggle with pain. Some pain is self-inflicted, other pain is inflicted by others. The cause of pain may be small–like an unkind word or disappointment, or large–like abandonment or betrayal.
A painful emotion that wounds us deeply is when we are not valued for who we are. I once taught a grade-school boy who was unloved by the people who should have loved him. He told me on Valentine’s Day–while the class was making Valentine’s pictures–that nobody loved him, and he meant it. His picture had people crying, and one of them was him. My student knew pain, and it was ripping his heart in two. Pain goes all the way to the heart, and there it festers and torments and gives messages that say things like, you are not worth loving and you are less than other people. (That is a bold-faced lie. You are worth loving. You are equal to other people.)
Does God understand this kind of pain? I believe He does. God feels our hurts and comforts our sorrows. Christ suffers when we suffer much like a parent suffers when their child experiences pain. Christ says to us, “My child, you are precious to Me. Let me bear the pain with you. Release it to My care. Draw strength from Me, My life in yours. Trust me. Christ loved the children and forbade the disciples to send them away. That’s how He loves us.
God will help you. I have found that God is approachable. He will heal your darkest secret and deepest wounding. We can share our pain with Him. God listens, comforts, and meets us where we are at. You, like me, will find Him to be a good father, much like the father who longs to embrace his prodigal son.
We need safe places to lick our wounds and to self-heal. Get alone in a quiet place. You need peace and calm to sift through your emotions and absorb spiritual renewal. Stay away from negative influences and self-medicating behaviors. These will only serve to increase your pain and cause you to avoid the real issues.
The world has proven it spits people out and cannot be trusted. Even friends and family may say or do actions that fail to meet our needs and to affirm us. The thing about pain is it always forces us to make a choice. We can either acknowledge and face it, or we can run and bury it. We may even self-harm because of it. Avoidance never works well.
How we deal with our pain is up to us.
- We can run away from the pain and pretend it doesn’t exist.
- We can stuff our pain through some form of denial.
- We can deal with our pain through admitting it, understanding it, re-calibrating our inner being, then seeking help, healing, and God.
Number 3 is the way to health and wholeness.
God is here. Trust Him as your first step. Spiritual counselors, biblical texts, meditation, spiritual cleansing, praying, friends who listen and care–and won’t betray a confidence, and much other can be accessed to help you recover, restore, renew, and rejuvenate. There will be scars and residual elements but these will no longer keep you in bondage and despair.
The following suggestions have worked for me.
- You can face your pain by identifying the emotion and your negative self-talk.
- You can sort it out by separating out the truth from the emotion, and letting go of what is not your problem. (Sometimes we carry pain that has nothing to do with us. It helps to recognize this.)
- You can ask God for hope, healing, and help–and then find people to come along side to help you.
- You can allow God to enter your soul, to heal your heart, to free you, and to love you well.
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28 NLT
God bless you. I’m pulling for you as you face what needs facing.
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NEXT UP: INSTALLMENT 2 – SUFFERING
Question 1: How can I help you? Feel free to approach me with your stuff. I will answer you the best I can.
Question 2: What is one way you have overcome emotional pain?
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