Daily Devotion #2

Letting Go and Stopping the Pain

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor." 1 Peter 5:6

As a person that has endured a lot of pain over the course of my life thus far, I have tried to figure out ways to cope. It is not easy trying to go it alone. The only way I have been remotely able to recover more quickly is by falling on my knees and crying out to God for His help, His peace, and His strength. Confronting hurtful experiences like loss of a loved one or unexpected illness forces you to accept that you are not in control. I sometimes think dealing with some things like this would be much easier if it were an innate behavior—like you know how to use the restroom from birth, you know how to cry from birth, but you have to learn that there are certain places for using the restroom or even you have to be taught to read. I have come to learn that we ourselves have to learn how to give our problems and concerns to God. Job 22:21 says ""Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you." Because we are born as fleshly beings, yielding first to our flesh, we cannot innately give our concerns to God. But because here it says to submit to God, and another translation says acquaint yourself with Him, we can know that we will have peace about whatever it is we face. I have come to believe two things: 1-Life is like a box of chocolates (thanks Forrest Gump) because you really don't know what you'll get! 2-You have a choice of how you deal with the things that come.

As we all know, trying not to think about something does not work because you'll inevitably think more about it. But I know one thing that works for sure: submitting your thoughts to God. Jesus says in John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." So if you ask God to guide your thoughts and protect your mind—especially when you are going through something, don't you think He will do it? Whatever you ask God for in prayer, He will give it to you. He will give you the strength to recover from that situation. He will order your steps so that you steer clear of situations that will make you slip—but you have to choose to listen. I like the verse above because of the promise at the end, God will lift us up!  He will exalt us, even in times of sorrow. Because the purpose of that suffering is that we share in the experiences of Christ and learn something, which is always for God's honor! Allow God to rule over you and as in James 4:7, your resistance of the devil will cause him to flee. Don't allow the inclination of your flesh to sin to prompt you to not turn to God.  Fall before Him and let God carry you through your pain.