Because when life isn’t going the way I expect it to go, it’s difficult to keep faith. When God doesn’t do what I think He should do, how can I keep trusting in Him?
There are no easy answers to these questions, but I do think there are some principles we can remember that will help keep us from being tripped up by Jesus.
Always remember this principle: God can turn pain into a purpose.
When you are in the middle of pain, you don’t want to think about this principle. And when you are really in pain, you can’t see it or maybe even believe that your pain can be turned into a purpose. But if I have learned anything in my 41 years of life it’s that God will never waste your experience. God will not waste your pain, if you allow Him to use it.
When the Apostle Paul was going through a difficult time, he wrote a letter to a group of Christians who were also facing struggles. They were in danger of beatings and even death. But Paul writes them and says in 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
When Paul was facing life not going the way he expected, he reminded himself that God can turn pain into a purpose. Paul reminded himself that God would comfort him so that he could go and comfort others.
Later on in that same letter, Paul would write this:
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
“For our light and momentary troubles…” this is Paul writing this. Paul has been beaten with rods, he’s been beaten with whips, he’s been shipwrecked and in danger in the sea, Paul has been stoned by angry crowds… and yet, he can say our “light and momentary troubles.”
The reason he could write this is because Paul remembered God will turn pain into a purpose, and even though we have pain right now, there is something greater waiting for us beyond this world.
When we change our perspective to understand that we are going to live forever, then things that seem so huge to us today, they won’t mean anything years from now.
Please understand, I’m not downplaying your situation, I’m just saying when you think about millions of years, you can handle something for 80 years.
Always remember the story of the bird…
There was a bird flying south for the winter, and the little bird stopped in a beautiful pasture to rest, but then an ice storm came suddenly and the birds wings were frozen and he couldn’t fly. The bird was stuck in the field and became frozen stiff. He thought to himself: “I never thought it would end this way. Please help me God!”
A few minutes later, a cow came wandering by and stood over top of the bird. The cow then proceeded to drop a cow pie on top of the bird. I guess you could call it manure from Heaven.
So now the bird is thinking, “Great, I’m going to freeze to death and now a cow has made it so I’m going to stink while dying. It’s so disgusting.”
All of sudden, the warmth of the manure starts to melt the ice on the birds wings. The bird can feel himself being able to move and would soon be able to fly thanks to the warmth of the manure. The bird is so excited he starts chirping and singing as loud as he can. Which causes a cat to come by, dig the bird out and eat him.
A tragic story…
But a story with 3 morals.
1 - Not everyone who dumps on you is your enemy.
2 - Not everyone who digs you out is your friend.
3 - When you are in deep manure, its best to keep your mouth shut.
Just because you are facing pain in this moment does not mean that God is not good. And God would give anything for you to know Him and understand that He can turn your pain into a purpose.
When you are in pain and God isn’t doing what you expect Him to do, remember He will use your pain for a purpose.
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