It has been said that God is not the great magician - He is the great Physician. That saying addresses a question which people need to think about clearly whether fixes from God are always quick People seek the quickest way out of pain, which is understandable. Pain, of course, demands immediate attention. A more mature approach, however, is to seek Gods redemption in the middle of the pain. Asking Him to bring healing into our wounds, this can be a slower process. God does His work in us, pointing us towards wholeness, even while we are in pain. But it is not simply His work, it is our work too. It takes maturity and tenacity on our part to achieve wholeness and that means persistently dealing with our pain.
There may be times when we are not in a place where we are free from pain but we can still experience Gods amazing redemption. An often quoted passage is in 2 Corinthians 23, describes how the apostle Paul learned an important lesson. When he was stuck in a tormenting problem which did not go away, even through he pleaded with the Lord three times, he got an answer he was not looking for. God works through weakness. What a profound discovery he learned to delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties. The good news of the Gospel is that God wants to be with us in the middle of our struggles. That is precisely when He exercises His strength through us. Paul learned to let God be in change, and to stop asking God to end his hardships. Gods strength flowed through him because Paul stopped trying to be in control. He let God take over, and God was able to use him more effectively. Paul could delight in suffering because he found it was an opportunity for Gods strength to work through us.
There may be times when we are not in a place where we are free from pain but we can still experience Gods amazing redemption. An often quoted passage is in 2 Corinthians 23, describes how the apostle Paul learned an important lesson. When he was stuck in a tormenting problem which did not go away, even through he pleaded with the Lord three times, he got an answer he was not looking for. God works through weakness. What a profound discovery he learned to delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties. The good news of the Gospel is that God wants to be with us in the middle of our struggles. That is precisely when He exercises His strength through us. Paul learned to let God be in change, and to stop asking God to end his hardships. Gods strength flowed through him because Paul stopped trying to be in control. He let God take over, and God was able to use him more effectively. Paul could delight in suffering because he found it was an opportunity for Gods strength to work through us.
