Pain Is a Gateway Not a Gift

Pain is a gateway to the best joy & peace. . .God Himself.

It is not that hard & painful things are swept under the rug and dealt with superficially as we tack on Christianese and suck it up. It is moreso that we have no rug or superficial joy or adequate reasoning to turn to. . .so we CLING to the only One who satisfies, who can make sense of senselessness.

We run, fall, cry, and wrestle safely in the Refuge of God. We are upheld, unashamed, and understood. We find our true joy in God because we are finally unable to hide from or ignore the only One who so perfectly comforts, helps, and transforms.

Too often we try to find the “lesson” in the pain when we could be finding out more about God as we experience the pain. And when we are most vulnerable, most confused, and most scared, we are also able to keenly experience the greatest of all hope & comfort in God. We are privy to the wonders of the impossible life God is doing in our season and in our soul. We can finally see the blessings that once were so obscure. We don’t miss one good thing.

I would not say my years of intense physical and emotional pain have been a gift, but I would say that God has transformed all my pain into a gateway that has irreversibly and so completely opened up beautiful, safe, intricate pathways to God. And all pathways to Him are filled with gifts from Him.

My pathways are well-trodden, experienced many times over as I bring my honesty, questions, and emotions to God, but I’m faithfully brought to the hope and wonder of God. And just like the morning sunshine showers the earth with its light, every day I am laden with gifts and blessings from God that permeate any point of darkness.

It is not long before the harsh pain that was once gloriously transformed into a gateway becomes forgettable as I experience the deep intimatcy with God I was always intended for. You see, I was not intended for pain, but for God.

Indeed, He works all for good.