A Promise of Pain

Week 35, Wednesday

Crystal Schwartz

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 (nlt)

My first real job was working for a Christian organization. I grew up in church but was somehow spared from seeing the pain that church people can cause each other. I walked into this job thinking how great it was going to be to work with Christian people. Twelve weeks later I quit. I had never been so humiliated, hurt, and condescended to. Every night I would pray that the Lord would release me from having to go to work the next day. And every morning I would read a psalm that would give me the peace to get in the car and drive to work.

The Lord was not unaware that people both outside and inside the church would hurt us. Jesus experienced the same thing. In fact, the people closest to Him hurt Him the very most. Part of loving people means opening yourself up to be hurt.

Scripture gives us many reasons why people hurt each other, but it never gives us an excuse not to be in community together. In fact, Jesus even promises that we will be hurt and will go through pain, trials, and hardship. Sometimes the pain is a result of our own sin, sometimes it is a result of others’ sin, and sometimes it just happens. In this world we are promised pain.

Our natural tendency when we are burned by something is to retreat from it, to move our hands away as quickly as possible. But God’s ways are not our ways. When we get burned by people, though we don’t necessarily give them the power to burn us again, we are still called to live lives that are open, honest, and sensitive to the rest of the world. We must not hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness. This keeps us in bondage and out of meaningful relationships. The Lord has called us to live together in close relationship, knowing that the benefits far outweigh the pain.

Lord, help me to identify any ways in which I have closed myself and ultimately my testimony off to other people. Heal those places so that You can openly use me in relationships with others. In Jesus’ name, amen.