June 27, 2018

It is natural for humans to try to avoid hurting. When given a choice to experience something that makes us feel good or something that hurts, most likely we would choose to feel good. While I would not suggest that we look for painful experiences, we probably should not avoid them without evaluating what they might do for us.

We learned to walk by recovering from falling down, just as we can ride a bicycle because we endured crashes and kept trying. We may have failed the test the first time around, but we kept trying until we achieved success. Pain was not allowed to defeat us but rather was viewed as a step toward accomplishment.

Study the life of any successful person and there will be evidence of sufficient pain to convince us that the journey was not always easy. Even Jesus’ example is one of pain – more difficult than what any human has experienced in the history of mankind. None of us can imagine the pain involved in having the sin of the entire world placed on you. But consider what He accomplished!

It is painful to admit that the reason our marriage is not working is that we are looking for an easy fix rather than the rugged process of commitment to life change. It involves the pain of putting our self in second place to our spouse and doing what he or she needs. It is the reality of giving up our rights to someone more important than we are.

The counterfeit god, Satan, promotes the lie that we should be number one in life, free of pain and the object of whatever makes us feel good. Creator God says the path to genuine happiness is humility and submission to Him and to the people He places in our life who will guide us, comfort us and bring us to the place He intends for us. And this will involve pain that, when accepted correctly, will be “happy hurting.”

Pastor Bill Ehmann