Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right
hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
How it can “be well” with your soul when it’s “not well” with your life!
1. God is still present in the midst of your pain.
God may feel a million miles away but in the midst of your pain, he is closer than your next breath!
2. Learn to experience PEACE in challenging times.
Philippians 4:11
“I have LEARNED to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have LEARNED the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty.”
3. Allow your pain to push you into the PRESENCE of Christ.
Psalm 139:8-11
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
Psalm 139:12
“Even the darkness will not be dark to you the night will shine like the day for
darkness is as light to you.”
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Any great calamity in the natural world, death, disease, bereavement, will awaken a man when nothing else would, and he is never again the same. We would never know the “treasures of darkness” if we were always in the place of placid security.” - Oswald Chambers
Darkness and pain will either drive us to the depth of despair, worry and fear or it will push us into the Presence of Christ!
“My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought…
My sin not in part, but the whole…
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!”
1. Realize that God is still present in the midst of your PAIN.
2. Learn to experience PEACE in challenging times.
3. Allow your situation to push you into the PRESENCE of Christ.
