PUTTING PURPOSE TO YOUR PAIN

“You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here’s why. 

 It’s because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody. 

CNN’s article says that if the body count “holds up”, this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer’s face on all their reports for hours. 

 Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity? None that I’ve seen yet. Because they don’t sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.                                                                                                                                                                             You can help by forgetting you ever read this man’s name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news.”      -Morgan Freeman

    I don't have an opinion on gun control, nor do I want to make that my focus here.  I am, on the other hand, an advocate for Jesus Christ. I may not agree with everything Mr. Freeman stated, but I do agree with the stance that we created this monster. Media is informative at times, and equally destructive at times. The problem is not something that we can't fix, but we all have to take a hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves . . . . . ."Have I contributed to the state the world is in today?" We all have to take ownership in the Nations condition. The United States of America has turned its back on God. We have accepted the ways of the world, instead of standing up for the Truth's that are spelled out in the Word of God.

    Where do we go from here? Why does bad things happen to good people? Why do we suffer hurt, pain, and disappointments?  I'd like to point to the Word of God to answer some of these questions.  I will talk about our role in changing our Nation later, but right now let's PUT some PURPOSE to our PAIN.

2 Corinthians 1:3-24

New King James Version (NKJV)

Comfort in Suffering

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶ Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷ And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

Delivered from Suffering

⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰ who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹ you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. 

  If you just glance at these passages, you see that a version of suffering was referred to 7 times.  We see in the scriptures just how bad life can hurt. We understand that, at times, our lives can be very painful. We can take off our Sunday suits, make-up, plastic smiles, and all the things that we put on to mask the hurt, but deep down we are all afflicted. We all hurt. we all need to be comforted. In these scriptures, Paul establishes the fact that life can be painful. In John 16:33 Jesus tells us "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” If you look at verse 8, you see that Paul's situation got so bad that the only way it could get worse is if He died. Notice he talks about OUR affliction . . . . he wasn't alone, he was taking about everyone around him being afflicted. Paul, in my view, is one of the most spiritual Christian's that ever lived, and he was ready to give up. 

   Praise God that there was another word that was repeated several times . . . . COMFORT.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says - No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. With trouble God will always bring a way of escape, a way out. The problem is that we get so focused on the problem, that we can't see the way out. It says in Paul's scriptures that God sends you a comforter in times of trouble. It's possible to get so wrapped up in your problem that you don't see the comforter there with you. We talk about how bad our problem is, we moan and groan over it, until it has consumed us. It's like being in a cold room where there is a comforter on the bed, and not using it. You talk about how cold it is, you feel how cold it is, but you don't pull that comforter over you. God is sovereign, He is in control, and nothing happens to you without passing through God's hands first. In other words, whether God caused it or allowed it, it got to you for a reason. The bible never talks about fate, luck, chance, or any other faithless words. Everything happens for a reason! Let me show you how God works through the story of the fiery furnace. God did not deliver the three Hebrew boys from the fiery furnace, He joined them in it. In the midst of there affliction, he comforted them and joined them. If God has not taken you out of a bad situation (affliction) yet, let Him  join you in it so the effect on you will change. The fiery furnace was hot, it was still fire, but the effect on them changed because God joined them in the midst of there affliction. The Bible tell us in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9  tells us that -We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. The circumstance may knock you down, but it shouldn't knock you out if you are claiming your identity in Christ. When you are going through your affliction, that is not the time to run from the Lord, it is the time you should be running to the Lord. God knows you are in pain, but through that pain, He wants to birth out of you the manifestation of the Life of Christ. Let God be your comfort. Let Him help you. Ask Him to join you in your affliction. God will comfort you in your situation, so that you can then comfort someone else in there affliction. The time is now to get on your knees and pray for God to join you in your circumstance, so that when He does, his life will be made manifest through you. There will be bad times, hard times, and despair, but God will be with you through all of it. Be comforted today knowing that God is sovereign, He is in control, and if you let Him, He will join you in your affliction just as he did at the fiery furnace.