Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
When I was in the 5th grade, I had my first ingrown toenail (and removal thereof). Essentially, a part of the toenail on one of my great toes was growing into the skin around it, and that hurt! First it hurt a little, then it hurt a lot the more the toenail grew. And then it hurt to bear weight on it. Eventually, I went to the pediatrician who said it needed to be removed. Basically, he was going to numb my toe and then cut about an eighth inch width of my toenail away, all the way to the back of the toe.
He started by spraying some topical numbing medication on, which hurt. Then, he got a needle out to numb it some more. This didn’t really work; it made it hurt more than the ingrown toenail did by itself! (Or at least so it felt in my young mind.) Now at that point, if I had told the doctor to stop and I had left, I wouldn’t have gotten better and my toe would have hurt. It would have continually messed up my daily routine, as it was difficult to get around and it hurt to wear closed-toe shoes. So, I let the doctor go on. He still had to work his way up under my toenail and cut it all out – and this hurt despite the fact that it was “numb”. Afterwards, it still hurt for two days. I went home and propped it up above heart level on my couch. I crawled to the bathroom when I needed to go because it hurt to walk on. But after a few days, it was better. It didn’t hurt at all anymore. I could walk, run, jump and dance (well, at least as good as I could before…).
And so, what I’m saying with all of this is that God works the same way in our lives. He is, after all, the Great Physician. When we bring him our hurts and pains, He may have to allow more hurt before the healing commences or completes. We just need to trust that He has the best in store for us and that He won’t give us more pain without it being necessary. I know I often find myself praying “Okay, you’ve made it hurt more now and that’s enough, I’m ready to be done with this trial.” It could be that He’s just giving the numbing needle – there’s still more pain to endure, but it doesn’t make sense to stop now! Instead, it makes sense to learn what God is teaching in the midst of the trial, knowing He has a purpose.
*Father God, thank you that you desire to refine us. Lord we repent of trying to escape our trials too easily and for not trusting that you have the best in store for us. Please help us to remember this and to learn what you want us to learn as we are being refined. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
Sometimes we must go through more pain to experience complete healing, but we shouldn’t forget to learn along the way.
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