By Charity Berkey
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”1 Peter 5:7-10
Being woken up in the middle of the night by a sobbing toddler deliriously crying is an all too common occurrence for many parents of fast growing kids. Growing pains is often the culprit. Just tonight, a little after midnight, my 6 year old, hard playing boy experienced exactly that.
He came to me because he knew I could help him. He has experienced pain like this before and normally he will crawl into my bed while I grab a potassium vitamin and some essential oils. I’ll wake him, through his sobs, just enough to swallow the pill and drink the water. Depending on how willing he is to take the vitamin and water, the pain will subside and he will be resting peacefully.
Sometimes he’s so wrapped up in the pain that he refuses to swallow the vitamin that is resting on his tongue.
I know what he needs, he knows what he needs and yet he chooses to wallow in his pain and misery. Other times the pain is so bad that he comes in begging for a potassium vitamin right then and there. He knows what he needs and he’s begging to get it. Those nights are so much easier for the both of us.
Often in our frail human bodies we hurt, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Our human nature desires that we fix the problem by wallowing in our pain, yet there is no fix, the pain cannot be subsided, the healing never happens. We can even put the hurt on repeat in our own minds and play it over and over again, a way of self torture.
Yet, Jesus is constant. He’s there waiting to help, waiting to assist, waiting for us to recognize that He truly is all we need. He has the ability to allow you to experience the pain with purpose, to fix the problem, to heal and mend our hearts.
Just as I allow my little Lincoln to crawl into bed with me as he sobs uncontrollably, God allows us to rest in His presence and cry out to Him in our pain and agony.
Unlike any human parent, He truly is all we need. Do you have pain you’d like to rid yourself of? He desires to help you through the process. There is no promise of complete healing until Heaven, but there is promise that He will be with you through the storms, He will comfort during your times of trials and if you allow Him, He will turn this entire trial into something beautiful.
Today I’m not asking you to stop hurting.! Your experience is real, your pain is deep.
Today I challenge you to take that pain to Jesus, drop it at His feet and ask Him to do a work like no other. Remove the pressure of taking care of the pain yourself and release the responsibility to Jesus and watch Him work a miracle out of your misery.