His friend pushed him into the path of the cute girl walking by. They bumped into each other with nervous smiles. Today, they’re happily married.
She looked down the steep water slide and freaked out. No way. She turned around to shamefully walk back down, past the line of people. Instead, her dad, standing behind her, grabbed her arms and pushed her down the water slide. Anger and fear gave way to thrill and excitement she never would have known.
Kelly’s supervisor moved her into a new position, and it was a tough transition and too much change. Kelly didn’t agree with it. She didn’t feel she was qualified. She tried, but made lots of mistakes. She approached her supervisor about this repeatedly, and always received the same answer, “You’ve got this!” Kelly didn’t believe it, but her supervisor did, and pushed Kelly through the difficulties. That experience opened up a new world for Kelly who is now a supervisor herself.
I don’t think any of us woke up one morning and said, “God, it would sure be nice for our planet to suffer a pandemic of sickness and death.” So, why would God allow this?
Here is one answer: God is pushing us.
God uses difficulties and hardships. With God, pain always has a purpose. When you trust in him, you don’t suffer randomly or for nothing. You always come out better.
There is something for you to discover during this crisis, that you can only discover during this crisis and not after it is over. God has purpose in it for you to grow, get stronger, gain wisdom and experience and even give up sin and faulty assumptions.
Even Jesus, the perfect Son of God, suffered and died. But it was for a purpose. God’s purpose. And Jesus gained glory through it, rising from the dead.
“The testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:3,4).
PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for pushing me to places I wouldn’t find, on paths I wouldn’t travel, and into experiences I wouldn’t otherwise enjoy. Your wisdom and love give my pain a purpose. This pandemic is not a prison, but a teacher. I want to learn from it, God, and from you. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: “I know there’ll be days when my life brings me pain, but if that’s what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain.” Listen to this in song today by Christian artist Mercy Me https://youtu.be/JtjxCx-7Hps.