I can’t remember a time in my life when so many people that I know were hurting and needy. Nor can I recall a time when I so desired to help. The frustrating thing is that there is only so much a person can do. We all have a limited amount of time, money, and ability. O I am very much aware of the fact that God expects only so much from us, but that doesn’t stop the pain. When your loved ones hurt you hurt. That’s the price we pay for loving. And please don’t take that as a complaint. It is far more costly not to love.
Every day I live my hatred of satan and sin intensifies. I also become more keenly aware of the fact that we are engaged in a spiritual warfare. We face a powerful unseen enemy who is determined to destroy us and he is relentless. There is no limit to the lengths he will go to accomplish his purpose.
While I greatly rejoice that the final victory is ours and that we presently receive help from God, I grieve over the present pain that the enemy inflicts on people. My heart breaks when I see folks on a path of self-destruction, making decisions that hurt others and themselves—decisions that will haunt them for the rest of their life. It makes no difference whether it is the person who hurt others or the person hurt by others–when it involves people you love you hurt also.
So what’s the point of all this? The point is that the pain we suffer is actually a good thing. Were there no pain there would be no love and were there no love there would be no desire to help others. Let us then not curse the pain, but rather embrace it, asking God for the strength to bear it. Don’t ask God for less pain, ask Him for greater strength. We live in a fallen world and “Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.”(Job 14:1) Get use to it and get ready for it. Just as suffering prepared Jesus for His intercessory work on our behalf, it prepares us to be of service to others. Sure it hurts and it hurts deeply, but we would be worthless without it. THINK ABOUT IT!
