Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. I Peter 4:12
piron-guillaume4 – unsplash.com
In a few days I will undergo a surgical procedure that entails burning seven nerve endings in order to relieve the chronic pain I have suffered with the past two years. The nerves will grow back in a few months but if this brings me any relief, it will be indicative to the insurance carrier that I am a candidate for the major surgery three specialists agree I need to permanently resolve the situation.
The idea of them burning things inside my body doesn’t sound very pleasant. Talk about a fiery ordeal! But I know that, even though I will be uncomfortable for a few days, it is for my welfare.
It makes me ponder about the fiery tests God sometimes puts us through for our own good.
Sometimes parents must show their love by allowing their children to suffer. I recall my mom saying, “This will hurt me worse than it hurts you” while tugging on a band-aid or digging out a splinter, or the few times she had to paddle my behind. When I became a mother, I finally understood what she meant.
It’s not that parents like to see their children suffer, and I don’t think God, our Father, does either. However, anyone who has been a
parent realizes pain has to happen, at times, for their child’s betterment. Such as slapping their hand to keep them from touching a hot stove, or allowing them to wobble, fall and skin their knee as they learn to balance on a two-wheeler. Or living with the consequences of a bad decision.
Sometimes we have to experience hurt for our own good. God allows that pain in order to squelch a worse one, or to correct something that has gone awry, potentially causing us harm. Despite what our “pain-free” society tries to persuade us, pain can be a good indicator that something is not right. And often, we must endure a bit of suffering in order to experience the blessings of healing.
If we truly believe God can purpose all things for good (Romans 8:28) then we must suffer embarrassment and heartache to come before the throne on our knees to be cleansed of our sins, the way the sting of hydrogen peroxide must bubble up on a cut to disinfect it. Or the twinges of pain as a stitched incision heals. Enduring the uncomfortable feeling for a while is worth it in the end.
I will try to remember to be thankful as they wheel me into the operating room. After all, this procedure is to help me. Praise God it exists.
And the next time God decides what I am going through is worth the pain, let me be thankful that I am in His loving and competent hands. All will be good.
Where Did You Find God Today? 