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we can tend to think or pretend

that a good life is mutually exclusive

of pain a painful life that those two

things can’t exist that we’re striving

for ease

and happiness and we’re looking for that

and then as even as i talk to my sons

about what it means to

to walk with the lord and be a believer

and be a christian it doesn’t mean ease

it means that when there is pain and

suffering god can still be glorified

through your life

and that he is fully able to turn the

situation around

we cannot live and not have any

suffering any painful times any seasons

that we wouldn’t prefer you’re going to

it’s guaranteed just by virtue that

we’re alive and man i can remember there

were three women um that were each going

through separate hard times this is

maybe three years ago and during that

year there were three women in my life

that were all going through i mean hard

stuff illness

trauma

and each of them were at such a low

point a hard point with their

physicality that they either didn’t have

the strength to literally pick up their

bible and read or they couldn’t attend

church anymore because of their health

issues they literally could not function

in the way they usually would because of

what was happening in their life

and each of them independently of each

other they don’t even know each other

but as i was talking to them

individually

and spending time with them they each

said something similar they said i’m so

glad that me and the lord already had a

thing going on

because now that i’m in the midst of

this where maybe i can’t even get out of

the bed there are scripture verses that

will come to my mind or there’s hymns

right mom was one of them there are

hymns that mom would just start singing

when she couldn’t even move anymore she

would just start singing these little

hymns that that were buried on the

inside of her

she would be encouraged by it these

women were encouraged by things that the

holy spirit would bring to their mind

about their friendship with the lord

they were so glad

that they had stabilized themselves in

good times in preparation for bad times

and so i think that’s so critical for

all of us

knowing that we’re going to walk through

suffering they’re going to be things

that come in our lives that we do not

prefer well then when things are pretty

steady we better be using that time to

cultivate a friendship and a stability

with the lord you know i think i do

think that we handle we process things

and we handle things

differently

you know and i and i and i have a way to

and i think it was the way i was raised

like you know when my kids would fall

down and scrape their knee and i’m like

you’re okay you’re okay come on come on

come on come on you’re okay you’re okay

you know and and i think it may be the

generation that my mother was raised in

and i was raised in that it’s like okay

just don’t worry about that we can’t

look at that we can’t think of that we

can’t we can’t take time to process that

you know we’ve got to move forward we’ve

just got to move forward and sometimes i

think it results in stuffing things down

you know and and maybe that has you know

uh

detrimental effects

and i think the way i process things is

i try to ignore certain things you know

and i like of course i process it

through prayer and talking to god and i

think

but you know it’s how we it’s how we

find ourselves doing different things

different situations you know like if

you’re talking about your mother’s death

you know you probably i don’t know if

you even processed it the same way

nope if you found yourself doing it

differently

but i mean you can’t you can’t get any

more suffering than death and loss like

that you know that’s just a that tears

your soul you know that’s a tearing away

literally yeah and so uh i think i think

that we shouldn’t be ashamed that we

process it differently or feel like this

one did it better than i did or you know

so i think sometimes i just think about

people listening and and they’re

thinking well how should i process

suffering you know i mean i think the

first thing we need to do is run to the

father that’s right because he’s the

only one that can help us

and to be truthful with him honest and

honest and open and um

you know david you could hear in his in

in in his writings you know he was open

he was honest with god but it was as he

began to talk he began to shift that’s

right his perspective that’s right and

it was it was only by the power of the

holy spirit it was only by god you know

shifting that for him and helping him

see things in a different way and

enlighten him

in it in a different way but i i think

that i can just hear some people say

well how am i supposed to

and i think you have to do it by going

to god and in your own personal way

that’s right that’s right and and also

the ministry of community yes people who

have suffered as you are suffering i

think that’s at least one of the

benefits that come out of tough times in

our individual lives is that we come out

of that tunnel to the other side that we

never thought we’d make it through and

then the lord gives us opportunity to

comfort those with the comfort that we

have been given and to give them that

same hope that listen i just went

through this tunnel and made it out

let me tell you and let me show you how

the holy spirit helped me how um prayer

works how you know community during my

time of suffering was so important

people encouraging me now let me offer

that same encouragement to you um

victoria you know your your husband did

that for me

he called me while mom was sick

and i mean that man encouraged me

and just said you know we we walk

through real difficult times as well so

let me remind you of some of the things

that it’s so easy either to forget or to

just have so dulled and pushed down

underneath all of the

the um urgent sort of

things that are that you’re facing in

the middle of a crisis it can be so

dulled that you just need someone to

come alongside of you and say let me

remind you of who jesus is that he still

is who he says he is that he is still

able and fully capable of covering you

and your family to have people’s voices

in your ear who can remind you of that

and can also give you perspective from

their own

seasons of suffering

it buoys you up and keeps you going to

the next 24 hours like nothing else like

nothing else yeah

you know i i always think

going through suffering and hardships

and people dying that you’ve believed

god for yeah i mean we’ve we’ve all put

our faith on the line for so many things

and just

god please

you know please

let this happen and and to think that

jesus

got the father’s no

as well

you know he he got

he got god’s no

and

so i think praying the gethsemane’s

prayer it’s it’s

god i know you can i know you can

deliver me i know you can do this i know

you’re the great physician i know you

you know you are the the father to the

fatherless and the husband to the

husbandless and all the things that you

are you’re the great physician

and i know you can do it

but if you don’t

thy kingdom come

thy will be done and jesus had to do

that

please let this cup pass from me we can

we can say who god is and then we can

pray god please don’t make me do this

don’t let

don’t let me and my children have to

walk this road

but then

it’s

but not my will but thine be done

you know and and

knowing the faithfulness and the love of

god

and the comfort of the holy spirit to

take us in the grace and the mercy of

god to bring us out

of those times to to to strengthen us i

mean

think about some of the hardest things

you’ve gone through it makes you who you

are today gives you something gives you

absolutely the tenacity i mean if it’s

given me nothing but tenacity to believe

god even harder the next time

whether it happened or not it

it does something on the inside of us to

strengthen

our faith i believe

if you don’t

let go if you don’t stop if you don’t

give up and

you know and don’t you think that

we have to retr retrain our own thinking

and make sure we do this with the

children or the other people that we’re

discipling and pouring into as

christians

we can tend to think or pretend

that a good life is mutually exclusive

of pain a painful life that those two

things can’t exist that we’re striving

for ease

and happiness and we’re looking for that

and i know people that’s that’s kind of

a

a western kind of perspective on on

being a believer that ease is what we’re

after that happiness is what we’re after

there are some people christians in

other parts of the world

um i remember someone saying to me

that that lives in another part of the

world that

when there is suffering happening

amongst them that their first prayer is

not deliverance from that suffering they

pray that too but that’s not the first

prayer the first prayer is

lord help me to glorify you in this

suffering

while i’m here since i’m here can your

name be made great somehow through this

suffering now lord yes heal and deliver

and free and we know you can do all that

but while you’re going to leave us here

in this moment for whatever time frame

it is a week or a month or whatever lord

would your name be made great while

we’re here and i just thought

it’s important for me and then as even

as i talk to my sons about what it means

to

to walk with the lord and be a believer

and be a christian it doesn’t mean ease

it means that when there is pain and

suffering god can still be glorified

through your life

and that he is fully able to turn the

situation around

but since life is going to come with

difficulty and it is you don’t have to

go looking for the storms of life you

just keep living and the storms somehow

find you so since that’s going to happen

then we at least need to be mindful of

praying okay lord why have you allowed

me to be in this pocket

and would you be glorified through the

way i respond the decisions i make the

way i treat others while i’m in it

let me glorify you while i’m here

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