Wild and Free Carlie J: Pain and Suffering

I know I am not the only one who suffers and hurts. Many who read this have dealt with divorce, lost a love one, been raped, and/or experienced some sort of tragedy. If you have not then you will at some point in your life. No one goes through life with out so sort of hurt, at some point. But through this we can be transformed! Changed! I promise you good will come out of it because God is good and loves us relentlessly! And yes, he allows suffering to happen to us (a good example is Job in the Bible) but through that, the hurt and the pain, how are we going to act? How are we going to view God during trying times in our lives? - This is all a constant struggle for me but I have recently read something that made me view my suffering in a new way--a new perspective! So that is what I am going to share!

I am currently reading A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley from the International House of Prayer (IHOP). I have not completed it yet but I have found many useful bits thus far! IHOP - Shelley Hundley (this link is to make of her talks on the IHOP website, I highly suggest you check them out)! I want to share many statements and excerpts from her book on suffering!

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his mega phone to rouse a deaf world." - C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain

BITS ON PAIN:

we often chase lesser beauties and neglect the one is ultimate beauty/meets our deepest needs (1 Corinthians 4:4, Isaiah 53:2, Romans 1:21, Ephesians 1:18; 4:17-18)
pain reveals the inadequacy of what we are beholding and unlocks our ache for a greater beauty to fulfill our needs - therefore - paint and suffering are useful because of what the tear down in our lives and the One to whom they can lead us
pain directs us the the place where God is waiting, ready to change us

PAIN HELPS US:

realize our hearts are alive
indicate how much beauty we have seen
realize the depths of emotional capacity
shatter our phony attachments and faulty dependancies
have the ability to change our priorities in a minute
pain is persistent and will not be deceived
rather than disqualifying us from God, it brings us into intimacy with God
encounter knowledge of God most deeply
Deuteronomy 26:5-8, Isaiah 63:9, Revelation 21:4, Song of Solomon 4:16, 2 Corinthians 2:15

PICTURES OF SUFFERING:

in the Bible we see God dignifying those who suffer and sharing in their pain
He points us to great joy that is to come as well as supernatural grace to triumph out suffering

God uses pain to bring us back to our first love.

Hosea 2:1-20
he strips away what keeps us from Him --> sometimes there is something more dangerous lurking that we are headed towards <-- His protection

2. God uses suffering to prepare His delivers for work.

Genesis 37-45 (Joseph)
season of study, meditation, suffering, and knowing God more intimately

3. God uses suffering to reveal His glory.

Job (most commonly known), Luke 22:31-32 (Peter)
Satan asked God's permission --> God allowed putting Job on display and ultimately revealing His great glory
praise in blessings but challenged to praise when everything is wrong
feeling of being inhabited from having a real impact for Jesus during times of illness and pain

4. God uses pain to prepare God's people to reign.

(Daniel 7:9-14, Ezekiel 1:26, Psalm 2) --> reveal God's glorious plan
Daniel 7:27
as Christ's Bride, the church overcomes only by being victorious in love --> Revelation 12:11
The avdersary (satan/antichrist) will overcome Christ's Bride (us) physically --> resulting in martyrdom --> but she (Christ's Bride) will triumph spiritually --> receiving the right to rule with Jesus forever
Daniel 7:21, 25; 8:24; 11:33-25; 12:7, 10
Revelation 6:9-11; 13:7; 17:6; 18:24; 19

5. Suffering gives God access to the deepest places in out hearts.

God's presence is always with us but we can't always feel it -->in our deepest darkest sufferings when we almost feel there is no reason to believe Jesus says "Open to me"
Song of Solomon 5:2 --> many requests from God to the Bride of Christ but when suffering He only has one request, that she respond to His knocking and open the deepest places of out hearts to Him!

a picture of Jesus coming to His bride with hair wet from dew of the night (speaks of Jesus own suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane) it reminds us that He meets us in the place of suffering!

when she responds to the knock and cannot find Him she is able to tell others (less mature believers/ daughters of Jerusalem) about how beautiful Jesus is to her and why she is so lovesick for Him. Song of Solomon 5:16.
It goes on to explain how touched God is when He is so adored in times of pain and struggle and suffering, in our darkest times. Song of Solomon 6:4
one reality can capture Jesus --> love from a suffering heart

A prayer for in these times: "Jesus I know that you did not take my pain away (heal me) again today, but I also know what You are longing for as You look at my heart. I know what I can give You now in this darkness that won't be the same after you have healed me from pain (or sickness) and I can see You clearly for who you are. I can love You! Jesus, in the midst of all that I am going through, the pain and my inability to sense your presence, I love You!"

something along those lines, and pray it daily
imagine Jesus' reply: "Your name, you are beautiful to me! You are awesome! You are overcoming the accusation and fears like an army triumphing a battle! You are beautiful! It is too much for me, I am overcome! You are my beloved!"

I shall continue on my next post about how the response to suffering is a gift!

Go, encounter God in a whole new way!

Open your heart to Him!

Be blessed!

-Carlie J

A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

Great FREE Bible site