Pain

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Psalm 90:1 Our Dwelling Place

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1

One place that most people desire to have is a home where they can dwell in. This needs to be a place in which one can relax, feel safe and get the needed rest from a day of work in some other location. Many people do not have such a place. The home that they go to is filled with anger, jealousy, separation, pain, suffering and bad memories. It is not a place to rest in and be able to live in with peace and comfort.

Moses tells God that He has been their dwelling place for all generations in this passage.

The world often believes that their physical home is supposed to be their place of rest and security. It is supposed to be filled with things that people like and want. Yet, very seldom is the world able to make the home that way. Sin is allowed in that corrupts the home and destroys all true peace and comfort.

Instead of making this physical world their dwelling place, believers are to make God their dwelling place. Rest, in the midst of chaos and busyness, is found in God. Peace, amongst turmoil and trouble is found in God. Safety, in the middle of danger, is found in God. Hope, in a world filled with despair, is found in God. Forgiveness, while being judged, is found in God.

God existed before all creation and knows what is best for each and every individual. He can provide more abundantly than the world everything that a person needs in every area of life. Dwelling in God gives the person what one needs to make it through this life of trouble, pain and suffering.

You most likely live in some physical dwelling place you call your home. It may be a place you enjoy or a place of pain. Either way it is just a physical place that you are in for a temporary time. Do not put your focus upon that temporary physical place but put it on God. Make the focus of your life to dwell in God and what He has for you. As you dwell in God you will find the peace, rest, strength, courage, comfort, joy and everything else you need in abundance that the world cannot offer nor understand.

Is God your dwelling place?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will make God your dwelling place; that you will know all that God has for you; and that God will break the pull the world has on you to tear you down.

Picture by Todd Kent on Unsplash

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Psalm 88:3-4 Feeling Hopeless

For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave. I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength, Psalm 88:3-4

There are often days in which a person feels as if the days are nothing but trouble and that there is no longer any hope. No matter where a person looks, there is trouble and pain. All that appears to be left is death. During these times a person feels weak and helpless with no hope of anything getting better.

The writer of this psalm is stating that his life is full of trouble that is heading towards death and that he has no strength left.

Everyone has days of troubles and sorrows. Sometimes those days appear to have no end and just keep on going and going from bad to worse. During these times, the world looks to things of the world to help numb the pain that a person is going through.

Drugs, sex, alcohol, movies, music and anything else that can take the mind off of the pain and suffering is used to help. Some will then turn to suicide, thinking that there is nothing left and no more hope for a better life. There is no longer any strength left to keep standing and moving forward.

Believers are not immune to pain and suffering. They will also have many of the same sorrows that the world has. However, believers can have a hope that the world does not know, nor understand.

Instead of turning to the things of this world that will only bring death in the end, believers can turn to God. He is a God of love and mercy and can give the needed strength to keep walking through the storms of life. There is a hope of eternal salvation that awaits those who put their trust in Him.

Pain and suffering are real, and you most likely have days in which that is all you feel. You will have days in which you have no strength left to want to keep moving forward. During these times put your hope in Christ Jesus. Turn to God for the needed strength. He will walk by your side in the storm of your life to give you the strength and hope you need. You have the hope of eternal life waiting for you. Don’t give up.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will give you strength to make it through hard times; that you will know God’s presence each day; and that you will know the hope you can have in Christ Jesus.

Picture by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash

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Job 30:26 Seeing Only Darkness

But when I looked for good, evil came to me; and when I waited for light, then came darkness. Job 30:26

There are times in the life of nearly everyone in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong. One looks for good things and everything good appears to be just out of reach. All that is seen or felt is pain and suffering, physically, emotionally, economically and socially. Everything is dark with bad, and hope appears to be elusive and gone. Waiting and hoping for something good appears to be a wasted effort of time.

Job states that as he is looking for good only evil arrived and when looking for light there was only darkness.

Trouble hits the lives of people on and off all over the world. Difficulties surmount to levels that appears to crush a person under the weight of it. Many in the world will throw the towel in and give up, thinking that there is nothing left good in the world for them.

Believers are also not immune to troubles of this level. It can overwhelm and crush some believers, because they lose sight of God and begin to forget all of His promises. Part of this is because some in the church have said that once one becomes a believer everything will be easy and successful in God.

Jesus, however, had said something different that there would be trouble in this world. Paul said that believers would be knocked down and hard pressed. But both said that God will overcome. There is a hope that the world does not have.

Every problem in this world is only temporary and very light in view of eternity with God. As Job cried out, he did not see what God was doing behind the scenes. Believers must also keep in mind that God is doing a great work in their lives behind the scenes despite the problems.

You will have days, weeks, months, even years that are filled with trouble and difficulties. You may be seeking for good and light and all you see is evil and darkness.

Do not give up. Continue to believe in God. He is in control and in the end, you will have eternal life with no more suffering or pain. No matter how great the problems are, God is with you and will save you. Hold on to the hope you have in Jesus.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will look to God in good and bad times; that you will trust God with all of your life; that you will not lose hope in Christ’s salvation promised to you; and that God will give you strength in times of trouble and pain.

Photo: Sasha Matic by Unsplash

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Job 14:1-2 Trouble Filled Short Time

Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue. Job 14:1-2

Young people often feel that life on earth will be long one. They are often carefree and able to run around with no problems. As people get older, they are often faced with more and more difficulties. Life tends to feel like it is nothing but problems one right after the other and then they die and it appears as though it is over.

As Job is going through extreme suffering, he complains that man only lives a few days which are full of trouble. Man is like a flower the rises than fades away and disappears.

There are very few people who do not feel that life, as a whole, is filled with lots of trouble. Those difficulties are different for each person, but they are there. The world sees life as full of trouble and then one dies and it is over.

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, there has been trouble in this world. It is filled with sin and the devil does not want anyone to succeed and will bring on trouble for all.

Jesus even promised His disciples that there would be trouble in their lives. That trouble continues to this day in the lives of every believer.

Yet, the believer has a hope that the world does not have nor understand and Job did not yet know. With Jesus there is forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life with no more troubles or pain. They realize that life on this earth is but a short amount of time, even if one hundred years. At the point of death on this earth, there is eternal life free of any more trouble.

You have struggles and difficulties in your life. Some are great ones, while others are relatively minor. Regardless of how great they are put your focus, not upon those troubles, but upon God and what Jesus has done for you and will do for you.

God will never leave you nor forsake you. He will give you strength to make it from day to day in the troubles of life. All of these troubles are temporary and soon you will step into eternity with Jesus and never have any more trouble.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God’s presence in your life; that you will seek God’s strength in times of trouble; and that you will know the hope you have in Jesus Christ for an eternal and pain free life.

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Job 10:1 Speaking From The Heart

My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. Job 10:1

Nearly every person has some complaint about something, though some will never speak what is on their heart. Other people appear to live to complain about life in general. Everyone has a time in their life when everything that could go wrong does go wrong and it is painful. During those times many will let others know of what is on their heart, the struggles and pain of what they are going through.

As Job went through a series of horrible disasters, he hated his life and chose to speak from his heart of his bitterness and complaint of what was happening.

Every person has times of disaster in one’s life. Everything is going horribly wrong and falling apart. Those are times of intense suffering and pain, whether physically or emotionally.

During those times many people will choose to turn to drugs or something else to deaden the pain or to take their mind off of their troubles. The world has no hope in itself and only sees despair and trouble with no way out. Without God, this is true.

Believers will also have times of extreme trouble in their lives. Their hearts will be filled with pain of the suffering and want to cry out in anguish. Unlike the world, believers have God whom they can run to for strength, comfort and understanding.

God does not always answer the why of the pain and suffering, but is always right by the believer’s side, giving strength and comfort. Jesus went through pain and suffering so that the believer could have life, abundant life that extends into all of eternity. He gives hope to those who are in pain right now.

There will most likely be times in your life in which you are struggling so much that you a hating your life. You may be wondering what is going on and why it is happening. There may appear to be no hope.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus and look to Him, the author and finisher of your faith. Tell God how you are feeling and allow Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, giving you comfort and strength. Trust Him that He knows what He is doing and allowing in your life to make you more like Jesus.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will speak your heart to God at all times; that you will trust God with all of your life; that God will comfort you in times of difficulty; and that God will give you strength to not turn to the ways of the world in times of trouble.