Words of wisdom from a young boy. God understands your pain. Just run to Him.
Roger Simms had just left the military and was hitchhiking home when a shiny, black, luxury car pulled over and the passenger door opened. Sliding into the leather-covered front seat, he was greeted by a friendly distinguished older gentleman.
"Hello, son. Are you on leave?"
"Discharged," answered Roger, "and I'm going home."
"You're in luck if you're going to Chicago," smiled the man.
"My home is on the way," said Roger. "Do you live there, Mister?"
"Yes, I have a business there." And with that, they were on their way. After talking about everything under the sun, Roger felt a strong compulsion to witness to Mr. Hanover about Christ. But witnessing to a wealthy businessman who obviously had everything was a scary prospect. Witnessing to anyone, as you know, can be tough to work up the courage to do. Roger put it off, but as he neared his destination, he knew it was now or never.
Five years went by, and Roger Simms married and started a business of his own. One day, while on a business trip to Chicago, he sought out the offices of Hanover Enterprises. It would be impossible to see Mr. Hanover, the receptionist informed him, but he might speak with Mrs. Hanover. Roger was led into a poshly-decorated office where a woman sat at a huge oak desk.
She extended her hand. "You knew my husband?"
Roger explained how Mr. Hanover had been kind enough to give him a ride home.
A look of interest crossed her face. "Can you tell me what date that was?"
"It was May 7th five years ago," said Roger, "the day I was discharged from the army."
"And did anything unusual happen on your ride?"
Roger hesitated. Had his witness been a source of contention which resulted in a marital breakup? But he must be truthful. "Your husband accepted the Lord that day. I explained the gospel to him, and we pulled to the side of the road and prayed together."
The woman began to sob. Finally she composed herself and explained: "I prayed for my husband for years, and I believed God would save him. But just after he let you out of his car, he passed away in a horrible head-on collision. I thought God had let me down, and I stopped living for the Lord five years ago because I blamed Him for not keeping His word."
I could not verify whether that story is true - it could just be a modern parable, but it illustrates the point that all too often, in our despair we give up on God. Yet we should not give up when we need Him most. I see it all too often. People give up on God just at that point when God is needed most. They will quit coming to church when the church would provide the help, encouragement, and healing needed to transition through the situation. We, humans, have an unhealthy tendency to cut off those who challenge the way we live. And yet when we despair and stray, we need to be challenged to live differently.
We cannot abandon the truth that God knows our pain. He knows our
struggles. And through it all, we need to remind ourselves that God still loves
us. Our suffering does not mean that God loves us any less.
God knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him.
Find peace in Him.
As the little boy said, " God understands your pain. Just run to Him."
And that is just what the Israelites did in the book of Exodus.
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:9-10 (ESV).
The principle that God hears our cries, that he knows our pain, is something taught throughout Scripture. We do not serve a distant God, who doesn't understand what we are going through. We serve a close God, who dwells in our hearts. Even when we are suffering, we can rest assured that God knows our pain.
And
He doesn't just know our pain, he knows what it's like to go through it.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” John 11:33-37 (ESV).
I'm not one to say that Jesus causes our illnesses and pain. But
He is one who sympathizes with us.
He
knew the great miracle that He was about to do in bringing Lazarus back from the
dead, but He still wept when he saw the sorrow of those He loved. He's not a cold, distant, and heartless God; He's caring and close.
It's
one of those mysteries. How does God sympathize with us in our pain if He is
the one who could miraculously stop our pain?
The
only answer that I can go to for comfort is the idea that God knows more than
me. He knows that what I am going through, if it is allowed to persist, will
shape me more into who He wants me to be. This physical body is passing, and
the spiritual will remain. From His perspective, being spiritually who
He wants us to be, who He designed us to be, is the most important thing. And
from my perspective, it sometimes isn't. It is so difficult for me to overcome
my physical impulses at times. That stubbed toe seems more significant than my
spiritual self at that moment. That unending pain. That sexual desire. The
materialism and pleasure. I want it all. The physical things of this world all
seem more important than my spiritual self-development when I am not right with
God. But that is because I fail to totally surrender everything to Jesus.
Just
the other day, I walked downstairs into the living room. Elsi scurried over to
me to have me pick her up. I did. But I couldn't hold her long because I was
working and had to get back to work. So I sat her back down, and she bawled.
She felt rejected by me. She felt abandoned by me. And the truth of the matter
is that she was. Not in a mean sense - I had my reasons -, but I had to leave
her to do other work.
But
God is different than me. He is there with us - in our pain, joy, triumphs,
sadness. In our greatest moments and our darkest valleys - He never leaves us.
He isn't like me - where he can only be at one place at one time doing only one
thing. He's everywhere. He's there in your room, trying to give you comfort
while you're weeping on the bed, at the same time he's with the parents in the
emergency room whose child is dying, while at the same time he is with that
teenager choosing to experiment with drugs for the first time because he's
trying to find meaning. And he is even in a classroom where great man-made tragedy strikes.
Even if the tragedy is a result of making stupid decisions, like Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent, who was scheduled to start last Sunday, yet Saturday morning he found himself wrapping up a night of partying and drinking on the town. He made the stupid decision of getting behind the wheel drunk. Followed that decision with another stupid one of speeding. This all led to him crashing and killing his passenger, teammate and friend since college. Josh had this to say from prison, where he is sitting on intoxication manslaughter chargers while his good friend is dead.
Even if the tragedy is a result of making stupid decisions, like Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent, who was scheduled to start last Sunday, yet Saturday morning he found himself wrapping up a night of partying and drinking on the town. He made the stupid decision of getting behind the wheel drunk. Followed that decision with another stupid one of speeding. This all led to him crashing and killing his passenger, teammate and friend since college. Josh had this to say from prison, where he is sitting on intoxication manslaughter chargers while his good friend is dead.
“I am devastated and filled with grief. Filled with grief for the loss of my close friend...I am also grief-stricken for his family, friends (who knew) him. I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day.”
We have all done stupid things and paid consequences for them. Some of us more
than others. But even when the tragedy is by our own doing, and we want to beat
ourselves up because we think that we are only getting what we deserve, God is
there, and He knows your pain. God's presence, unlike mine, is not finite. He
is not limited to only being in one place at one time. He doesn't leave you
because He needs to get back to "more important things." He stays
with you during your deepest trials, even if they're self-inflicted.
God
knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find
comfort in Him.
Once
we realize this, we can live out the tough teachings of Scripture.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21 (ESV).
Unfortunately, most
of our worst times in life are inflicted on us, not by ourselves, but by
others. Sometimes it is just circumstances, but often there is an enemy
involved. Someone who is not looking out for our best interests. Someone who
actually might be trying to harm us.
Loving that person is contrary to our instincts. Paul teaches us to feed our hungry enemy. Give something to drink to our thirsty enemy. Overcome evil by doing good. Bless those who attack us and say bad things about us. We can only be empowered to do this when we truly believe that God will enact vengeance when it is needed. That everything is in God's hands. That He is even with us during our pain. Nothing goes unnoticed by God.
God knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find comfort in Him.
Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their 2 sons were arrested,
together with Rosenburg's mother and father for the "terrible" crime
of being Jews. They were placed in a Nazi concentration camp.
It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple.
"As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated."
Rosenberg watched as his mother and father were marched off to their deaths. He knew that the next would be his youngest son, David - because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg came back into the barracks after each day of hard labour and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true."
Joshua turned and said, "It is true, Dad. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him."
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg.
It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple.
"As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated."
Rosenberg watched as his mother and father were marched off to their deaths. He knew that the next would be his youngest son, David - because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg came back into the barracks after each day of hard labour and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true."
Joshua turned and said, "It is true, Dad. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him."
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg.
"Oh Dad,"
he said, "When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. So Mum
said, 'There is nothing to be afraid of, David,' and she took his hand and went
with him."
That illustrates a mother’s love-- a love so strong that it chooses to give up life so her child can be comforted." (Story taken from Sermon Central).
That illustrates a mother’s love-- a love so strong that it chooses to give up life so her child can be comforted." (Story taken from Sermon Central).
Our hearts yell, "Why? Why did God allow this to happen?" And I don't
have an answer.
But then our hearts also hear the echo of true love in this story. That love of the mother for her child. It's beautiful. It's like a shiny coin in the midst of a tarnished pile.
But then our hearts also hear the echo of true love in this story. That love of the mother for her child. It's beautiful. It's like a shiny coin in the midst of a tarnished pile.
It's an echo of the
love of Jesus on that cross.
Rick Stacy shared the following story:
A young preacher heard about a sudden and tragic death of a teenager in a car accident. He rushed to the home of the parents only to find them standing in the front yard next to their car. They had just arrived home from the hospital.
He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. They hugged and cried together. After an hour he left… never uttering a word.
He felt he had failed until several weeks later he received a card from the couple thanking him for the comfort he gave them that day. They thanked him for not saying anything but for just being there and sharing their grief."
We wish pain and suffering didn't happen, but it does. I wish I could tell you that if you give your life over to Jesus, you would no longer have to experience any pain. But you will. I wish I could protect all of you from nights of despair and times of trouble. But I can't.
A young preacher heard about a sudden and tragic death of a teenager in a car accident. He rushed to the home of the parents only to find them standing in the front yard next to their car. They had just arrived home from the hospital.
He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. They hugged and cried together. After an hour he left… never uttering a word.
He felt he had failed until several weeks later he received a card from the couple thanking him for the comfort he gave them that day. They thanked him for not saying anything but for just being there and sharing their grief."
We wish pain and suffering didn't happen, but it does. I wish I could tell you that if you give your life over to Jesus, you would no longer have to experience any pain. But you will. I wish I could protect all of you from nights of despair and times of trouble. But I can't.
But I can tell you this promise. God is always there for you. God
knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find comfort
in Him. He is always there for you. Keep your eyes on Him.
As our friend Mitch McVicker and his mentor Rich Mullins wrote,
I will never doubt His promise
Though I doubt my heart
I doubt my eyes
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by
I want to leave you with this song. The lyrics are a little fuzzy as they were recorded on a cassette player in an old, abandoned country church, only nine days before Rich Mullins died in a car wreck that also nearly took Mitch's life. Just days before his sudden death, Rich recorded a demo tape of the next album he wanted to do. An album that would be all about the life of Jesus. The music was redone, but the vocals in this song are taken from that tape.
As our friend Mitch McVicker and his mentor Rich Mullins wrote,
I will never doubt His promise
Though I doubt my heart
I doubt my eyes
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by
I want to leave you with this song. The lyrics are a little fuzzy as they were recorded on a cassette player in an old, abandoned country church, only nine days before Rich Mullins died in a car wreck that also nearly took Mitch's life. Just days before his sudden death, Rich recorded a demo tape of the next album he wanted to do. An album that would be all about the life of Jesus. The music was redone, but the vocals in this song are taken from that tape.
