Pain and the Glory of God

Pain and the Glory of God

Pain is not relative. It hurts. Hurting is not relative. It is not exclusive, it’s more of an ‘equal opportunity offender’. Neither age, nor beauty, nor nationality, race, heritage nor religion can deter its course. You can’t get out of its path. Everybody gets some. And one person’s capacity or experience for pain has absolutely no relation to someone else’s. They are absolutely incomparable. And there is no amount of money in the world, no amount of privilege that can make you exempt. When it chooses you, you’re suddenly thrust into a club that you didn’t ask to join. You’re shipped off to a violent and brutal war, even though you never enlisted. But you look resolutely into the face of this raging storm, you grit your teeth, and you fearlessly exclaim, “Do your best!” You pick yourself up, put on your armor, and know that if you’re lucky, you’ll discover new and amazing sides of yourself – like a will you never knew you had, and strength and fortitude that somehow had been elusive and hibernating in unchartered territory. And there’s an upside! You’ll have a unique opportunity to experience God’s goodness, to see first-hand His Glory in action, and feel His limitless love for you as an individual and His concern for your one-of-a-kind circumstance. There’s even more upside. You’ll get to see new and beautiful sides of both strangers and the people who matter the most to you in the world. They’ll wrap you in their love and lend you their strength when yours is depleting or fleeting. And then, at some point, you accept your fate and you’ll fight – you fight with everything you have – your last dollar, your last ounce of strength, your last drop of will-power, your last breath! Because, really, what other choice do you have? What other choice is there? But even in tragic pain, in imperceptible hurt, there is a silver lining – it’s the miracle of life! As dark and cold and lonely the long night is, the sun will still come up in the morning. There’s got to be a morning after. Hang in there and cling to that wellspring of hope in a better tomorrow. And regardless of all the naysayers, tomorrow will come! It always does! See you in the morning my friend! It will be a very, very good, sun shiny day!

Wm. Calvin Hughes | Lake Elsinore, California | June 11, 2015