By the time it hurts it’s too late.

In my very limited experience with pain management, I have learned that they give you medication so that you can stay ahead of it.  If you choose to evaluate by your current feelings you might forego the medication and just decide to “tough it out”.  No one likes to take pills . . . right?  I have done this before and regretted it later.

Some of my most “macho” buddies have done the same thing.  As a matter of fact, they have actually engaged in “verboten” activity in that window of time between surgery and its aftermath.  Their stories of regret are laughable and delightful.

Most of us realize that as terrible as physical pain can be, there are other kinds of pain that are even worse.  The pain of loss when someone that you love, leaves this world.  The pain of loss when someone you love leaves you . . . for someone else.

Questions . . .

“What should I have done when my kids were younger that would have made them turn out differently?”

“Is there hope for me in terms of my future?”

“How do I keep from repeating the mistakes of the past?”

By the time it hurts it’s too late.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.”  There was no waffling around that statement.  It was a declaration of absolute certainty.  If you walk in his steps, count on it.  When trouble comes, it is a revelation.  It shows us the reality of our relationship with God.

Truthfully, if you don’t find God in the midst of the storm, it’s not because he left you, it is likely because he was never there to begin with.  When there is no pain or struggle or adversity that troubles us, we tend to interpret this as God’s presence or his blessing.  It could be just the window of time between surgery and its aftermath.

You see, we need God when it doesn’t hurt . . . when there is nothing driving you to Him.  If you will run toward Him and discover Him in these times, then you’ll find that He is adequate when the bottom falls out as well.  How about today?  Things okay?  Hunger for Him . . . run to Him . . . discover His Heart for you.  Hurting today?  In the midst of your pain, do the same thing.  Seek Him before you seek relief and you’ll find everything that you really long for.

Here’s the other part of the verse from John 16, that I quoted earlier.  “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  HalleLUjah!