It's going to hurt

"Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."
John 16:20-22

There is a very dangerous thought that has invaded some areas of the Christian church. Some people believe that when you become a Christian God makes your life perfect. And then when we realize that our life is not perfect, that it's full of failure and pain and sickness and trials, we think that something has gone wrong. We think that either we're bad Christians, or God has abandoned us, or that we were never Christians to begin with, or that God never existed to begin with. I want you to know that this concept has ABSOLUTELY NO Biblical foundation whatsoever. The "Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Gospel" is heresy.

Was David a bad "Christian"? Was Jeremiah? Was Joseph? These people Suffered. Why? Did God forget about them? Did God just not care? No! Listen to what Jesus says! What you're going through are birth pains. They're necessary. According to 1 Peter 1:6-7 these trials that we go through result in the refining of our faith and they will ultimately "result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:7)

This life is going to hurt. It's going to be hard. You're going to cry and mourn and wonder how you're going to make it through each day. But God hasn't messed up. He hasn't forgotten about you. Know that when you suffer, everything is going according to plan. So endure. Because when the birth pains are over and new life comes into the world our hearts will rejoice. God is coming back! He hasn't left us! He knows what he's doing!

Now it is true that some of the suffering we are going through may be a result of our sin. It's possible. If there is sin that is weighing on your heart, drop to your knees this instant and seek the Lord's forgiveness. But know that if suffering does come as a result of sin, it is because the Lord is our father and a father disciplines his children. I remember when I was young that I was spanked a lot. I hated it. No one likes being spanked. I cried every single time. But one thing that stood out was that every time after I was spanked my dad pulled up my pants and told me why he did it. He didn't do it because he was just a mean man. He did it because he loved me. He explained that if he didn't love me he wouldn't care what I did. He wouldn't care that I misbehaved and acted unbecomingly. But a good father disciplines his children in love. It is for your good.

God is coming back. We will rejoice when he does and no one will take our joy away from us.

For Christ,
Daniel