The Stuff That Hurts

Most people don’t like going through pain and emotional hurt, but did you ever look back and realize that it was through those circumstances that God helped draw you closer to Himself? I can think about the times in my life that hurt so badly I thought my very insides were going to crack into pieces, but afterwards I could see how God used those moments for good and made me stronger in my walk with Him. In the end, the hardships always seem worth it.

I love what Elisabeth Elliot had to say about it:
"I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God."

…this from a woman who outlived two husbands and endured many other hardships.

I want to live with my hands outstretched – not holding too tightly to things in this life, but willing to be what God wants me to be and go where He wants me to go…trusting that His will for me is better than anything I could conjure up myself.

You are the One; there's no one else

Who lifts me up

And gives me water from the well

But there's a hole

That seems to drain it all away

And once again I'm left in fear and doubt

When all my strength is crying out

So here I am again

Willing to be opened up and broken like a flower in the rain

Tell me what have I to do

To die and then be raised

To reach beyond the pain

Like a flower in the rain