The Lesson From Pain

I have wondered many times how God could allow so much of pain in my life. But I never realized then, that it was only for my good.

All of us have a lot of people around us, friends, classmates, colleagues, family members and so on. But there will be just one person we feel very close to, with whom you laugh together, cry together, work together and just enjoy each other’s friendship, because the bond is so good. There is so much trust between each other.

God blessed me with such a friend, someone I trusted like I trusted no one else. I could bear any problem with anyone else except with this best friend of mine. When she was there for me, I felt supported, comforted and strong. Nothing that happened to me seemed like a very big problem.

But one day I found myself in a situation where things were not the same anymore. In fact it was just the opposite. My best friend was no more my best friend and very soon, I found myself being avoided by the same person who once loved me so much.

I would like to tell you about one of my favourite couples. Let’s see if you can guess who I’m talking about.

I happened to read about their life the other day and was so impressed by how beautiful they were with each other.

There was this young woman, who was waiting for her marriage. She did not know who her man will be and where he was. But, all that she knew was that she was so in love with him already, that she was ready to leave everything and go with him, any moment.

After waiting long, she was in for a big surprise when a proposal was brought to her. She felt like her dreams had come true, for when she met him, she got to know what a blessed he was. She was delighted to know that he was not just a good man, but also someone who started loving her very much. She became his source of comfort and the girl felt like she had gotten the greatest gift of her life- her wonderful husband.

How do I react to this problem?

How do we react when we feel things are going wrong? We may simply worry about it, unable to carry on even our daily chores properly, or we may sit and analyse the problem, trying to figure out how to tackle it to bring things back to form. That was exactly what I was trying to do that evening, when I felt disappointments flooding in like never before.

Every thing that I thought was going fine was taking a different direction. And suddenly I felt there was no help or support from any side. There was just this sinking feeling that I could not get rid of, all evening.

I thought I had to find out a way to make things right. When I could not find one, I allowed negativity to grip me for a while, letting it take my time and energy, which I could have spent in a fruitful way.

Only later did I come to my senses, finding myself being silly taking up everything on my own head and worrying about it when a had a wonderful choice of going to God, telling Him what just happened, surrendering the problem to Him and simply trusting Him.

I did what I was supposed to do and when I did go to God, He led me to these wonderful verses in Exodus 14: 13-14, which say,

…” Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.

The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.

It was an amazing experience. I, who was so perplexed and apprehensive about the problems around totally calmed down unbelievably. And I got the answer to my question, ‘what should I do about the problem’. The answer was simple. I just had to stay quiet and be still trusting God, for He was going to fight the battle for me and make everything right in His own way.

Psalms 147.11 says …” the Lord delights in those who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

Yes, He is happy when we trust Him just like how we are moved and are happy when our friend totally trusts us. May be the problems around are huge, the disappointments seem never-ending and the situation is totally hopeless. There is just one solution, which is to surrender it to God and blindly trust Him completely.

It may be our financial conditions that are driving us mad, our future, family, problems, health, work, exams or people. Just name it and I tell you it is nothing for God. He is just waiting for us to give the matter into His hands so that He can work on it. Unless we hand it over to Him, we are not allowing God to work through the problem.

When I tried working out issues myself, nothing good happened, but when I left it to God, everything that seemed like ‘going wrong’, just fell in place. Above all there was this peace of God that was filling my heart so great.

There is just one thing we need to do when there are problems and hopeless conditions around – Be still and trust God, for He is the one who fights for us and make things right.

Having come to the end of this academic year, I just took a few minutes to think about how the entire year had gone.

To me, this whole year has been a period when I went through a lot of tears. The worst part was, I went through it all alone. I cried so much that I sometimes felt my brain would burst out, yet I shared it with no one around, for I did not find anyone to do so.

But then, there was hope! God helped me to turn to Him every time I faced something. And each time He proved Himself so compassionate, understanding and loving, no matter what kind of problem I went to Him with and how many times I went to Him for the same reason.

My God spoke to me every single time, through His Word, right into my situation. There were times I was wonder-struck at the way He spoke the exact thing that I needed and the way He did it every time without fail.

Of course He is God, who knows me inside out, even the deepest secrets in my heart.

When I was totally down, His word alone was my delight. When I thought I’m done and there is no hope for me, He filled me with peace and joy that was so beyond understanding. He not only consoled me, turning my sorrows into joy, but also counselled me each time through His Word and showed me the way out.

There was a time when I felt so pressed by all the work that I had to complete in the college, the exams that were like a terror at that time, the hurts from people around and other small problems adding fuel to these. I really thought I was going to go mad. But His Word sustained me. At that time, God just told me one thing – to rejoice in the glorious riches that He has for me in Heaven, which will never perish and not to worry about these earthly problems which will disappear very soon. (1 Peter 1. 3-6)

His Word turned my focus, from my problems to Him, and filled my heart with the same peace that filled me every time I went to Him.

Today I thank God for everything that I went through, for through it all, He made me understand the power of the Word of God.

This evening, as I was telling one of my friends that I went through a lot of tears this year, she could hardly believe it, for she never felt I was going through any pain. But the truth was, I did go through it. But God, through His Word made me smile in situations when it was not possible a bit and counselled me as to what I had to do. That’s what kept me going.

The psalmist says in Psalm 119.24, “Your statutes are my delight, they are my counsellors.”

How true this verse has been in my life!

Only His Word can bring life when we feel dead, delight when we are depressed and counsel when we are directionless. Praise be to God!

Have you been through such situations? How did God help you out? Share your views and experiences in the comments section below!

Are you in a prison-like situation?

Life doesn’t always go smooth. All of us come across situations, where we feel like we are being punished for no fault of ours.

Joseph was thrown into the prison because he refused to go to bed with his master’s wife, though she compelled him, and sin against God.

Paul and Silas, as they were serving God, came across a servant girl, who was demon possessed, and drove the demon out of her. The masters of the servant girl, who used to earn a great deal of money through her prophesying by the demon ( that was in her), were enraged and dragged Paul and Silas before the authorities. As a result, they were then stripped, beaten and thrown into the prison. (Acts 16.23-23)

These were not fair treatments on these men, who deserved nothing of these.

We may think about it and conclude that it was the fault of the people around them, but then I would like to bring to your notice another noteworthy point.

The point is – It was God’s will for them.

For us, the children of God, even though it is a prison experience that we go through, we can be sure that God is in control and He will allow nothing apart from His will to enter our lives.

Yet, there is a condition. We should be careful to walk blamelessly before God, in obedience to His Word.

Now this is how we know that Joseph, Paul and Silas were in the will of God. Lets see what happens to them after the go into the prison.

Joseph– He interpreted the dreams of two of King’s officials, which eventually led to his calling to interpret the King’s dream, right after which he was made the governor of the entire Kingdom.

Paul and Silas– God used them to save the guard and his entire household, and even baptize them.

Today, if you’re going through a tough situation, you’re not able to bear it and you feel like it’s not you’re fault, don’t worry. I tell you cheer up and be encouraged, for God has something great in store for you through this experience. He will bring you forth as gold out of the furnace.

Even as we go through the problems in exhaustion, we need to look into the lives of these men and learn from them.

During your prison experience:

1. Love Others– Joseph himself was in prison, yet  when he saw the King’s officials sad, he shows his care for them, he asks them what the matter that was concerning them was and gives  the answer for their problem. (Genesis 40.7)

Let us also be like that, showing love to others even at hard times.

2. Pray and Praise God–  ‘About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.” (Acts 16.25)

What ever may be our problem today, let us pray to God and Praise Him  with all our hearts. This can break open any prison gates as it did in the times of these great men of God.

3. Minister to People– Joseph brought God’s interpretation to the King’s officials. Paul and Silas brought God’s word and salvation to the prison guard and his house hold.

Where ever we are, whatever condition we may be in, God wants to use us to be a blessing to others and to build His kingdom.

When God gave me this message, I did not understand why He was talking about prison experience. But very soon I faced a problem where I found myself unable to bear it. I asked myself why I was facing that a problem when it was something I didn’t deserve at all. However, God’s word helped me through. He helped me to pray and worship Him amidst the problem. He helped me to minister to people and to love even those who I felt were the cause for my dejection.

If God could help me, I’m sure He will help you too!

Have you been through a tough situation? or are you going through one ? Share with us how God helped you out and is helping you through, in the comments section below.

Overcoming Hurt

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice.” 
Philippians 4:4

Well, I was reading this verse when I was going through a tough time. I couldn’t help, but say to myself ” I do want to be happy and I do want to rejoice in the Lord. But then, my situation seems so pressing that I feel its impossible to do what I actually want to do. I just can’t do anything but sit alone and cry about it.”

I found myself too hurt, too lonely, with no friends around, and the people I thought will help me made things even worse for me.But that’s when I decided to go to the feet of God and cry out to Him, asking Him for help for coming out of this hurt.

Here are few things that God reminded me to do, that day as I cried to Him, which helped me. He knew my exact problem and gave me the right solution for coming out of the pain that I was in.

1. Go to God, Cry to Him, Ask Him for help.

It is good to talk to people when we are hurt, but then many times it doesn’t help. And there is just one person who can understand us completely, which is God.  So run to Him first. Go ahead and let Him know your pain. There are no secrets between you and God.

2. Forgive.

Ask God to help you forgive the person who has hurt you, for we pray ” forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
We will not be forgiven if we don’t forgive others. Always remember, no one has hurt us more than how much we have hurt God. If God forgives us, we should be all the more willing to forgive each other.

3. Pray to God and Thank Him

Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Don’t be anxious about everything. Just let God know your requests and thank Him for all that He has done for you. The more we thank God, the more we will be blessed and will enable us realize how good the Lord has been in our lives. Thanking Him works like magic.

4. Be Gentle

Philippians 4.5
“Let you gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

When we are hurt, we tend to hurt others, especially the person who has wronged us. But here the Bible teaches us that we need to be gentle. This is possible when we really forgive them, which we can, if we constantly keep asking for God’s help.

5. Know that the Lord is near.

The same verse (Philippians 4.5) says that the Lord is near. Even as we are hurt and long for love, we should remember that the God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort is near us and that He will comfort us with His love, so that we can comfort those who are in trouble with the comfort that we receive from God.

6. Fix your thoughts on Jesus


Philippians 4:8
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, what ever is admirable, if anything id excellent or praise worthy, think about  such things.”

All these things put together can only denote Jesus. We do know that most of our hurts seem amplified by our thoughts. We keep thinking about them over and over again, eventually making it appear bigger than what it really is. Sometimes we think of things that do not even exist and fall prey to hurt. But, when we fix our thoughts on Jesus, there is an end to all these unwanted hurts that ruin our feelings.

7. Get busy for God

There is no time to sit and worry about small things when we have a higher calling, a calling from God. Let our focus be on God. As Paul says, “put into practice whatever you have learned from me”, let us be more considerate of the Word of God and the work of God, keeping ourselves available for God and living pure lives before God and man.