Stronger than your pain

Jamie sat perplexed, staring at the screen of his razor thin Apple Macbook Air, wondering if the man who preached the sermon he just listened to on YouTube was somehow monitoring his life or even worse, reading his thoughts. The pastor had basically described Jamie’s life down to a tee and although he had tried so had to suppress his thoughts on this particular issue, try as he may, there was no escaping his pain.

Hurt by those he loved and trusted the most, Jamie had made an inner vow to never let anyone hurt him again and without realizing it, he had erected a massive wall to protect his heart. The trouble is that such walls end up isolating us as people find it near impossible to connect with our hearts. We in turn also struggle to connect with others for fear of being hurt again. We become cold and distant, almost too angry to love and connect deeply again. As the saying goes, hurt people end up hurting people.

Christ came to end this vicious cycle of never-ending hurt by taking all of our hurt and pain upon Himself. If we truly believe this then why do we still struggle with our pain and find it difficult to forgive those who hurt us? It’s simply because we either do not truly believe in the finished work of Christ on the Cross or even if we do, have not yet grasped how to appropriate and apply this remarkable truth into our personal life experiences.

When we have truly understood and caught the revelation of Christ’s love for us, our desire to please Him will undoubtedly become much stronger than our pain and our desire to get some form of revenge against those who hurt us. The flesh is always trying to satisfy itself, not least when someone hurts our pride and ego. It wants you to give others a piece of your mind. It wants you to show them you’re not to be messed with. It wants you to dish it out as much as you got it from others. That’s the way of the flesh and it is the easy and wide path that leads to death. The way of the Spirit is the opposite. On the surface it seems weak and pathetic but on closer inspection, it is full of character, inner strength and self-control. Think about if for a second. The easiest thing to do is to insult people, use vulgar language, give in to your impulses, disrespect, dishonor, slander, keep malice, revenge and so on. The most difficult thing to do is to love those who have hurt you, allow the Holy Spirit to constrain you to keep peace when you can attack with devastating consequences, keep your side of the story to yourself in order not to shame those who hurt you etc.

Only your love for Christ can inspire you to rise above your pain with an inner strength that is driven by love. Jamie who we met at the start of this blog post had become an angry young man because of what a close family member had done to him a few months ago. He had become determined not to ever let anyone hurt him like that again and in so doing, became a changed man and not for the better. The Holy Spirit had been nudging on his heart for several weeks to forgive and let go but Jamie felt justified in his anger and was intent on seeing that person get the justice they deserved. He prayed, fasted, read books and spoke to people but nothing seemed to penetrate the thick outer layer of offense that now covered his soul. That was until this random sermon by a random pastor randomly pops up on his YouTube timeline. I guess God moves in mysterious ways.

Jamie realized that although he had recognized the unforgiveness in his heart and repented of it, more was required. By indulging his flesh in slander and evil thoughts towards this person, the spirit of offense had taken root in his heart and now he had to renounce it. He also had to let goof his desire to inflict his version of justice on this individual by entrusting God the ultimate Judge to bring His justice into the situation. The final stage for Jamie was to release his pain to God. You can do the same and be free today. You are stronger than your pain.