What good can come from pain?

Have you ever been through a struggle and had to depend totally on the Lord? There's nothing like the helplessness of feeling there's no one on earth to turn to. As Christians, we may often worry that way, but the reality is that we can always turn to the most powerful, influential Person in the whole universe and totally depend on Him. Often He allows us to experience that kind of loneliness and desperation so we'll learn lessons about His great love and faithfulness we wouldn't discover otherwise.

Walking through those valleys, you can feel a bonding with God that the "good times" just can't produce. Lessons learned about His loyal love are what inspired David to write: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me" (Psalm 23:1,4). Talk about bonding! David was a man whose heart cleaved to God's because he had faced the fires and yet God saw him through.

In the same way, when disastrous things happen to each of us, we can respond in thankfulness to Him, confident the experience will make us more trusting of Him.

What pain are you going through? Will you let God use it to change you life?

Blessings,





Gary Smalley
Editor, Smalley Relationship Center