Hopefully It’s Only Temporary Pains

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Why does life have to be hard sometime? Why are their rainy days? Or Mondays? Or dentist appointments? Or ACT tests?

Why does there have to be these little temporary pains?

At least, I hope they are temporary. But I guess, anything in life is temporary. Because eventually whatever we are going through in life will end, even if that end is death. Isn’t that just a lighthearted notion with rainbows and butterflies?

This pain will eventually end even if it’s death that forces it to end.

But most of our pains will not end in death.

Some pains will end with a new start. A new hope. A new day. A new bloom. A new chance.

I have entered into a season in my life when I’m facing pains. Pains I didn’t see coming or expect. Pains that I wish would disappear and not return. Pains that make we want to turn around and run.

But I’m also facing this period with the perspective that these momentary pains are going to lead to something better.

Ask the Lord for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture.
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I love this image of how God in His loving nature may send us storms, because He sees what will come from those storms. Without the storms we may become a dry, desolate, abandoned, wasteland.

But with the storms we can become a lush, vibrant, stronger, healthy body.

What we may see as a rainy storm cloud. God sees as a provision for tomorrow.

What we may see as a hurdle. God sees as a lesson forcing us to faithfully jump.

What we may see as a heartache. God sees as a period of pruning and restoration.

What we may see as a failure. God sees as a chance for a new beginning.

What we may see is definitely not as God sees. So, if we know God sees beyond the tomorrows, why do we worry about it today?

Why do we struggle to stay one step ahead, when God is telling us to slow down and follow Him?

Yes. I am learning. Well, I’m trying to learn.

I’m trying to lean in during the hard moments, and feel His tenderness. I’m trying to rest in the uneasiness, and feel His peace. I’m trying to shake off the doubts that try to hold me back and feel His hands untangling the knots.

I’m trying to close my eyes in the darkness of this world and believe that the Light of this world is still guiding my path.

Temporary pains…are not fun. But they are temporary.

May we breathe a little easier knowing that despite what comes our way it’s not a surprise to Him. He knows our tomorrows and has a plan to get us through it. And He’s going to be there with us through all of it.

So if life brings a little pain, so be it. May we realize that when we feel pain all we have to do is refocus to feel He is with us through the pain. He is there through the tears, through the doubts, through the broken relationships, through the lies, through the layoffs, through the test results.

He never said He would keep us from pain. But He promised to always be with us in the midst of it. And what’s better? A life of no pain separated from God or a life with pain with the nearness of God?

Truly ask yourself. Can you truly say, God bring the storms as long as you stay with me through them?

I hope you can. Because storms are going to come in life.

But when they do I hope you remember that the God who holds the storms also holds you in them.

Sometimes storms are what God uses in order for us to feel Him. I wish we could we learn to seek after and feel Him in sunny days. But if we forget, may He use the storms of this life to remind us of His goodness and eternal promise. May the pains we feel cause us to look to Him for hope.

And what better place to look than Him?

Because He knows how the temporary pains are going to end. He knows and that should be good enough for me.

Peace