Dear Children of God,
My favorite sport is baseball. There are lots of reasons, but one of them is the “characters” who are part of the game. One of the things about characters is that what they say doesn’t seem to make sense until you think about it for a second. Bob Uecker on catching a floating knuckleball: “The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling.” Yogi Berra on getting beaten badly early in a game: “It’s getting late early.” Sparky Anderson on soreness: “Pain don’t hurt.” Okay, so pain does hurt …
But while the affliction of pain in all its forms – physical, emotional, and spiritual – does indeed hurt, does it need to rule us? St. Paul would say, “No.” Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “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” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). Paul reminds us that life on earth is going to be fraught with moments of pain of all kinds. But this pain is not a permanent thing. In it, God is with us. In it, He strengthens us to endure. In our earthly pain and weakness, He makes us strong enough to persevere by faith in Him … through this life … into eternal life (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).
Our faith in Christ doesn’t make sense to the world around us. Satan tries to use our pain, caused by the world’s sin, to turn us away from God. But as God strengthens and comforts us – and enables us to endure – our faith-filled lives become a testimony to the world. When people ask, “How do you get through that pain?” We can testify, “This is just temporary. God has strengthened me to endure. And one day, because of Jesus’ pain and suffering on the cross – and His resurrection – I’ll be free of all this forever.” Pain does hurt – but it’s only temporary.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Jim