Encountering Jesus Through Your Pain

In the
Bible, we see God dignifying those who suffer and sharing in their pain. He
points us to the joy that is to come and gives us supernatural grace to triumph
over our suffering. One of the most helpful skills we can develop as believers
is the ability to meet Jesus in our own pain, therefore being able to lead
others to Him in theirs.

When we
meet the Lord through our heartache and the blindfold of our own fallen
understanding is removed, we will experience what we can now only hope for in
faith.

God uses pain to bring us back to
our first love. As believers, God
shakes our lives at times to answer the very prayers we have prayed. He
uses the least severe means to remove what is hindering our intimacy with
Him.
God uses suffering to prepare His
deliverers for His work. Remembering
Joseph’s journey (Gen. 37-45) God used the very thing his brothers meant
for his harm as the tool to position him to save thousands of lives,
including his family.
God uses suffering to reveal His
glory. The Bible’s best-known example
of suffering is Job. Much like he did with Peter in Luke 22:31-32, Satan
asked God for permission to sift Job. God allowed Satan access to His
friend, putting Job on display and ultimately revealing His great glory.
God uses pain to prepare God’s
people to reign. In Daniel 7:27, we
learn that the kingdom will ultimately be given to the saints of the Most
High God. Yet in light of all of this triumph there is suffering. The book
of Revelation shows that God raises up an adversary (the Anti-Christ) and
allows His people to endure unprecedented persecution as a means of
preparing them to rule and reign with Him.
Suffering gives God access to the
deepest places of our hearts.
God’s presence is always with
us, but we can’t always feel it. It is in the moment of greatest darkness,
when we are barraged with every reason not to believe and trust, that
Jesus gives us a simple command that is the most difficult thing for a
suffering heart to do. He simply says, “Open for me” (Song of Sol. 5:2).
When His bride is suffering, Christ has only one request—that she responds
to His knocking and opens the deepest places of her heart to Him.

Comfort seems most
elusive when we are in the midst of our own suffering. The promises we read in
Scripture can seem like empty words when our hearts are racked with pain and
there seems to be no end in sight. When we are in the midst of our suffering,
we must lift up our eyes and receive comfort by seeing who Jesus truly is. See
Jesus as your Bridegroom, longing and
weeping for you.

See Jesus as your
Judge who will fight for you. Commit your
cause to Him and demand that every bit of pain bear fruit. Let it draw you into
deeper intimacy with Him and equip you for His purpose.

See God as your Father. The Father records the movements of your heart
toward Him. That is how deeply He cares for you. Surrender to His wisdom and
sovereignty when you don’t understand.

See God as your
Deliverer. We don’t have to choose between
intimacy and deliverance. We can have both in their glorious paradox. We can
say yes to God in the midst of our pain and believe God for the deliverance He
will bring as the righteous Judge.

I challenge you right now
to open your heart and allow God to bring you comfort. He promises to comfort
all who mourn. I pray that you will be strengthened by the hope that the King
is coming. No matter what you are facing, behold your God. He will come with a
strong hand.

Adapted from A Cry for
Justice by Shelly Hundley, copyright 2011,
published by Charisma House. In this book the author uses her story as a
backdrop to show how she found healing from the pain, guilt and shame of the
abuse she endured as a child and how she came to know Jesus in a new way—as a
righteous judge who fights for His people and takes upon Himself the burden of
our injustices and pain. To order your copy of this life changing book click on
this link.

PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 11-14-2011

This week open your heart and allow the Lord to strengthen
you by the hope of His soon coming. Join Dutch Sheets and other prayer leaders
around the country in praying for our nation and the world. Ask God to forgive
and cleanse us of our wicked ways and continue to pray for revival. Pray for
the protection and success of our law enforcement and protection agencies, and
that plots would be exposed and those involved captured. Thank God for His
continued mercy and pray that President Obama and those working with him would
seek the Lord for wisdom and direction. Remember Israel, our allies, the
persecuted church, our military and their families. 2 Chron 7:14

To enrich your prayer
life and learn how to strategically pray with power by using appropriate
scriptures, we recommend the following sources by Apostle John Eckhardt: Prayers that Rout Demons, Prayers that Bring Healing, Prayers that Release Heaven on Earth and Prayers that Break
Curses. To order any or all of these click here.