Pain

Psalm 30:11&12
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever

How many of us have experienced pain? How many of us have ever gone through anything? I think it's safe to say that everyone at some point and time has been though something in their life. I believe that God has me doing this today for someone who really needs to hear that God is for you and not against you. If you don't understand that everything will be off in your life. We have to understand a few things.

The 1st thing we have to understand is that the Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust. If you think that just because you become a Christian you can escape pain and trouble you have another thing coming. If you look throughout the Word nearly everyone went through pain and went through trouble of some kind. Sometimes Preachers and people paint this picture that once you become born again that life is filled with flowers and rainbows and you will never have another worry or care in life. Can I be honest? Most of the time it gets worse before it gets better. What I mean is that when you make this decision to follow Christ, the devil will react because you are now against his kingdom. An attack sometimes will come to knock you out of your decision to follow Christ. This can come from a variety of ways. Maybe it's people you hung out with who did things that you no longer do, maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's a bad habit... whatever the case the attacks don't stop... the fight doesn't stop, and the pain you may go through at times will still have to be gone through. So what's the difference right? The difference is who is with you. God said He is for you, and not against you! The Bible says that weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). What makes all the difference in the world is that God can and will strengthen you. God will give you peace.. the enemy can't do that, only God.

The 2nd thing we have to get today is that we need trials, we need pain, we need hard times. I know what your saying, Troy you have lost your ever living mind right? Think about a woman who is about to give birth. A woman who is about to give birth suffers lots of pain, but what she is doing is pushing something out and that process needs to happen. The woman in labor has to go through the pain to receive her child. The pain she has to go though is almost unbearable (I would imagine) but when it's all over, and a child is delivered into her hands and the pain she went through is worth it. My son Noah, who is now 7 years old has at times has  had pain in his legs. All I knew was to give him advil or tylenol but he was going through growth pains, and a growth spurt. The pain was part of the process.

You see as much as we hate to admit, we need the pain to help us grow. We even experience growing pains spiritually because God is trying to get us from one season to the next. What's in the middle of two seasons? Usually a trial, a test, and a trick of the enemy to knock us out of our destiny.

There is a 3rd thing I need to cover when it comes to pain. What about depression, oppression, trauma, loss and grief? Is God a part of this? Here is the short answer to that. When it comes to oppression and depression God is not the author of that kind of pain. The devil will bring depression and oppression into your life to knock you out or delay your God given destiny and miss your timing. Depression is a spirit. What about trauma? grief? loss? I don't believe that God is the author of that either. When i comes to loss we have all gone through it. We have lost a loved one, a friend, a relative, and than there is grief for that one. In my opinion that is natural... but you have to be careful because grief can turn into oppression and depression and that is a doorway for the enemy to gain entrance into your life. He is slick and can squirm into the smallest of cracks in our armor. So my advice, always be on guard.

I don't know where you are at today, but I want to encourage you. I want to speak into your life. I want to say that weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. I want to say that God is going to turn your mourning into dancing. Keep going today! Keep pressing in today! Don't quit! You got this! God is for you, not against you. That's not a saying, it's the truth. God will make a way for you. God will get you through it!

Be Blessed!