I think there is something in our faith, in the Church, that we don’t talk about, but we need to. We don’t talk about it because it’s painful and uncomfortable, but we should.
Having faith and following Jesus sometimes means your heart is going to get broken. We are promised that. (John 16:33)
When you choose to follow Jesus it isn’t a one time decision. It’s a daily, sometimes hourly choice to let go of your will and that isn’t always easy. It’s painful to let go.
On Sundays we sing, “God have your way in my life” and “it’s your will Lord.” But have you actually sat back and considered what that means? What is our response when that statement crushes you?
This is something we need to talk about.
What about the pain of accepting and feeling grateful for what you were most scared of? What about that pain?
How about the pain of training your mind, body, and soul to not find comfort where you used to find comfort? You have to train your heart to love what God loves, not what you used to love because you can’t love obedience and rebellion at the same time. You can’t love the things of the Lord and the things not in his will at the same time.
What about the pain of rejection? What about the pain of trauma and letting go of what happened to you?
How do you deal with pain when you try to trust God’s plan and timing but you feel like he forgot about you? How do you still trust that? How do you deal with that kind of pain? How do you still pray with that?
We don’t talk about when things get hard and you are hurt.
When we don’t talk about the hard things when they happen we quit. When things get hard we give up. When it gets hard we doubt and walk away. We need to talk about the side effects of obedience. We need to talk about how to deal with the pain of all that comes from following his will over our own. More than just fluffy worship songs and shallow love.
I think it’s important to learn how to steward pain. Because it is through pain that we grow.
If you were hoping I had answers or something super wise to say, I unfortunately let you down. I encourage Jesus followers to not only talk about what is comfortable and good, but the hard and yucky too. I think we need to be real and invite Jesus into the pain and hurt. I think we need to have more grace for those around us. I think we need to have more grace for ourselves too. I think we need to be okay and know that life isn’t about happiness, it’s about joy and peace.
Koko
So very TRUE! Churches have become places to feel “good” and avoid the bad. God never promised us a life free of pain and trials. It is through the tests and the trials that we grow and we need to be able to share our struggles and discouragement (be real) with other believers.
As a Pastor, that is what I encourage my church family to do. We are not perfect at it but we are working on it.
Great article… and a great reminder.
Thank you 🙂 I feel like I would love to have conversations about this.