Reason For Pain

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever.--Isaiah 26:3, 4

One predominant reason for pain is to bring us to the end of trusting ourselves, the source of much misery. Many call this brokenness, a state not necessarily achieved through becoming a drug addict, clinically depressed, or a gutter resident. It can arrive very quietly, in the deepest recesses of the heart, as a result of trials nowhere close to the magnitude of the aforementioned. It is “simply” giving up on our independence from God. 

Once while staying in a mountain cabin I noticed a moth beating its wings against the window in a vain attempt to enjoy the freedom offered by the outdoors. I decided I would capture and release it, but the more I tried to help, the harder the moth tried to escape! Not until it became totally exhausted and unavoidably relaxed was I able to pick it up and let it go outside. Many believers are wound so tightly that they beat their inner man's wings against the invisible forces of life that bind and enslave them; the only solution they know to be possible is trying harder, but they must "let go and let God" in order to become relaxed souls the Father will take into His hands and give freedom.

Yes, believers suffer, and we can thank God for being in the midst of unpleasant occurrences, because these very things bring those He loves to perfection.

- Mike Wells