Take The Pain

TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Several years ago a very graphic movie was made about the horrors of the Vietnam war. There was one scene in the movie where a foot soldier stepped on a land mine and half of his leg was blown away. Frantically he fell down and began to scream hysterically. So loud was his outburst of pain that he put the rest of his comrades in danger by giving their position away. To prevent this from happening the master sergeant jumped on top of him, cupped his hand over the fallen soldier's mouth, and said through gritted teeth, "Take the pain! Take the pain!"

Forgive me for using this gut-wrenching illustration to make my point but sometimes we all face brutal trials that for us are equally severe. Also, I am wondering if God sometimes asks us to do the same thing. "Take the pain!"

Why do I say that? The Bible does tell us to endure hardship like a good soldier in Christ. If we are enduring hardship then that means the hardship is not taken away. Right? Let's also not forget that He never did take away Paul's thorn in the flesh. When God told Paul "My grace is sufficient for you" was He telling him to "Take the pain"?

I believe He was and now we must ask the question "Why?" When you think about it, this is not a hard question to answer. What it all comes down to is that God insists on being number one in our lives. He wants us to seek Him more than anything else.

Here's what I'm saying. Sometimes our trials get so bad that we seek the answer to our problem more than we seek Him. We crave the solution so much that it becomes a god-like idol to us and God says we are to have no other gods before Him.

The enemy sends trials our way to distract us from God and from fulfilling the call on our lives. The devil is hoping we'll get so distracted by the trial that we'll spend more time seeking the solution to our problem than we do God. We are told in scripture to not be deceived by the wiles of the devil and this is one of his most cunning and successful strategies against the body of Christ.

So what should we do? Keep doing what we were doing before the trial began. Learn to seek God more than the solution to all our problems. Seek His face and not His hand. Trust me, when you do this you are showing the devil that he cannot and will not win this battle.

God will not leave you stranded and before you know it the victory will come rushing into your life like a mighty wave on the open sea. I say again, don't make the same mistake I've made several times over by making a god or an idol out of the solution to your problem. Seek God and for sure the victory will be yours. After all, it is He Who always leads us to triumph in Christ Jesus.

*** Written by Randall J. Brewer ***

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How To Be Sure

Are you sure you are among the chosen few
Who shall enter glory when life on earth is through?
It is not enough to say "the sinner's prayer"
Or assent to the gospel when it is shared.

Your life will be changed and your heart made anew
If the Holy Spirit is indwelling you;
From each and every sin you will turn away
And seek to obey whate'er the Scriptures say.

Your affections will be set on things above,
Your motive t'wards others will be to show love,
Your supreme desire will be to do God's will,
And though you lose all for Him, you'll love Him still.

While these changes cannot save you from your sin,
They provide assurance you've been born again;
If they are not manifested in your life,
Don't rest until you have saving faith in Christ.

*** Written by Perry Boardman ***


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...building the body of Christ