In all their suffering he also suffered,
and he personally rescued them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them.
He lifted them up and carried them
through all the years. (Isaiah 63:9, NLT)
They say a lot of things about getting old. What I know for sure is that it’s a pain—as in, a pain in the back, a pain in the elbow, a pain in the feet, and most recently for me, a pain in the knee.
I play a lot of golf, so maybe it’s about time some of these things are showing up. Actually, it’s probably all about time, because I haven’t been taking enough time to warm up, since the course doesn’t want us to show up more than 10 minutes early for our tee times. On top of that, our driving range has been closed for remodeling. I’ve been using excuses like these not to take the time I need to care for my body. Do you feel my pain? (And all from a non-contact sport!)
Pain is not just a physical thing, though. I’m sure you know this. Whether or not you’re aligned with Christ, you’re going to face pain in the body, mind, and soul. You may endure relational pain when friends let you down and non-relational pain in those times when you’re left all alone. You may endure financial pain when you don’t have enough to pay the bills, or when you have so much that the tax collector is eager for a bigger and bigger chunk.
Pain can come from outside of us, when others sin against us, or when their mourning becomes our mourning. Pain can come from nearness, when we lose a spouse to death or a child to wayward living. And pain can come from within, when our sins eat at our closeness with Jesus and bring consequences and grief.
God can use painful lessons to bring us to the next level in our discipleship with him.
But there are two things I know to be true even when pain comes after me.
First, God shares my suffering. When Jesus was born as the Son of God taking human form, he entered into the same sinful world I live in. There is suffering here. Jesus didn’t walk above this pain. He lived right in the thick of it. He went to the cross in an ultimate act of suffering, where the nails pierced his hands and our sins pierced his heart. Jesus knows what it means to feel bad. When my children or grandchildren are in pain, I am too—and God is an infinitely better Father than I am!
But second, I know that he can redeem my pain. That’s what we read in Isaiah 63. We read too in Romans 8:28 that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Yes, we reap what we sow, just like when my knee kept me down because I didn’t care for it as I should have. But God can use these painful lessons to bring us to the next level in our discipleship with him.
It’s OK to pray that God takes our pain from us, because we serve a loving God who is merciful; he will often rescue us here on earth if we put our faith in him. But like Daniel’s friends who faced the threat of the fiery furnace, we have an “even if he doesn’t” clause. Even if God takes us through suffering in this life, he has in store for us amazing wonders in the life to come. And we know that when we get there, “there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4).
—
Dereck Wong
September 9, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash