Ecclesiastes 7:14 – Pain – Conclusion and Personal Note

"In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him."

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (ESV)


Preface

This the conclusion of a series of posts on the nature of emotional pain, what it can reveal about our hearts and minds, and the purpose it has in our walk with Christ. If you want the full context, start from the beginning.


Conclusion and Personal Note

I won't lie, when I started this series, I half-expected to suddenly have this new understanding of emotional pain that would allow me to never suffer it the same way again. I know how naive that sounds, but I think it's halfway true. What I've learned is that pain is simply the side effect that love gives us, because of sin. There is no love without pain. But that also means there's no pain, without love. When we hurt, it means that at some point, we were given the opportunity to love. When we're in the thick of it, we might say that we prefer to have neither, but we don't get that option. Life is a cycle of loving, and losing. The human spirit's been created to do both. God has created one of those moments, just as He's created the rest.

Pain will always hurt, and our flesh will inevitably reveal its own nature when that happens. 

—

I think some people read these to learn from my experiences and interpretations. I think some read them just because they're curious. I know that if I saw a personal blog on someone's public social, I'd be reading it just to see what's going on in their life. If that's you, then that's totally okay! As long as you're reading. There's obviously something inherently embarrassing about being vulnerable to any degree on a public platform, even if someone has to go out of their way to see it. But a big reason that I started this back up in the first place was because I wanted people to know that it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to be weak. It's okay to be confused, angry, lonely. Because that's how we were made – it's the whole reason we need Christ in our lives.

Here's the truth that the curious person is looking for: I'm all of those things, at one point or another! I have wounds, and they show me how weak I am. How much I really do need God. I have vices, obsessions, addictions and weaknesses. I wrestle with God's will for my life, a lot. I cry, I sin, and I grieve. I trust God – but I have to fight a lot to make that decision every day. He's always worth it.

Wounds are tricky. Like I said before, there's no real cure for the pain they give us. Only treatment, and time. And good painkillers can feel few and far between. It's easy to act in our pain towards whoever caused it – even when that person is ourself. But all any of us are really trying to do is search for love. 

If you're reading this, odds are I know you in some way. Just know that I'm thankful for you, and I love you! I might not really know you. You don't really know you. But God does, and He loves you anyway. And no matter what you carry with you, I do know that all you're really doing is searching for love. No one can condemn you for that. I'm sorry that the presence of sin means that you've had to find pain along the way – and that you'll inevitably find it again – and cause it, too!

So, even though this is labeled as a series on pain, I think it's really a series on love. I'm sorry if a more satisfying conclusion would be me telling you that you can eliminate the emotional wounds that you've had to bear – I'd love nothing more than to believe that myself – but that just wouldn't be honest. Every wound is gonna stick with you, in some form, as long as you live. Every one represents an opportunity that you've had, and continue to have, to love. 

And love, hurts. Do it anyway.

Popular posts from this blog

Proverbs 1:1-7 – Chasing the Why

 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) True wisdom comes from following the Lord's instruction, not from trying to co-create a plan with Him. Proverbs is a collection of writings meant to act as an instruction to living faithfully for Jewish youth at the time. While Solomon is believed to have been the primary author of these, it's likely that they were meant to be directed towards his own son Rehoboam (1:8). Regardless of whether they were written directly to him or if they had a more broad purpose to educate young men as a whole, what we know for sure is that they provide a strong foundation for living a life filled with wisdom, authored by the wisest man that only lived once. I've been doing a lot of searching for wisdom, because I think I really struggle with life not being a simple equation. I do good, I receive good. I give love, I receive love. I give effort, I receive effort. That...
Read more

Seasons

I've been a cynic when it comes to New Year's for a while. I don't like when people make "resolutions" when they don't have the discipline to actually follow through with improving, and so I've started to see New Year’s almost as a lazy man's holiday over the years. Which is admittedly pretty unfair, and judgmental. Lately, however, I started viewing this time of year in a different light. Instead of using it to look forward to the New Year, on what I can be doing differently, I've started to use it as a time to reflect on what the Old Year has been, and how God's provided during it. Recently, as the Christ Covenant young adults' ministry ended services for the year, the CCYA pastor Thomas Nelson mentioned a feast that's referenced in the Gospels, called the Feast of Booths. It was a feast that God initially commanded the Israelites to celebrate in Leviticus 23, and He provided little detail in terms of how He wanted them to celebrate ...
Read more

Colossians 3:1-4 – Losing Ourselves

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV) Our personal pursuits are only as valid as who they're really in pursuit of. Revisiting this one in the spirit of a new understanding. It gets really easy to fall into the habit of living our lives for ourselves, even if under the pretense that we're "living for ourselves, for Christ." There's no such thing. I become angry with God when He takes away something from me that brings me happiness, which is evidence that I lost sight of what I'm after. What's our end goal here? Let's use prosperity gospel as an example to highlight how we answer that question often times. Practicing th...
Read more