Personally, I have found this little poem to be so true….and nothing has ever been so fruitful as a painful season. I would never have thought in the beginning with Jesus that pain could teach so much. Yet, it does. It teaches us about the heart of Christ and the love He has for His people. I have found that often in ministry and life, pain comes before a major shift and blessing from God. Expansion for me has come often on the heels of a major crisis.

I have learned the Valley of Achor that becomes the door of hope is more literal than I could have ever imagined. Pain positions us well. Achor means “trouble”….so we can assume pain often accompanies trouble.  I could never know the heart of my sweet and tender Jesus until I walked through the need of such a touch. Otherwise, we teach and preach from a place that is void of understanding and often very inaccurate. Pain is often what catapults us to the promise…

 

There’s pain to promotion

That pricks and pokes

Paved with blood and tears

Lined with roses full of thorns

The balance of beauty that sears.

 

The greatest of crossroads

Will set you in fright

Wondering if the enemy is near

Yet Christ is now pressing higher still

And pain will be His spear.

 

This is not punishment

He sees more in you

And if you dare to play it safe

You’ll never ever catch the wind

And sail to adventures He’s made.

 

So perhaps you are looking

For another dear road

To get you to the same exact place

But usually pain is the promised path

To the destiny that holds your name.

 

March 30, 2018