What Good Is The Pain You’re Going Through?

God wants to birth something in you.

Maybe it’s something He placed in you a long time ago, but the dream died.

Maybe it’s something that’s taking too long to develop and you haven’t seen fruition, so you’ve given up.

Maybe it’s a deep hope He deposited in your soul when you were a child that you’ve long abandoned.

Maybe it’s a desire of your heart that you were pursuing at one time, but life has derailed your plans and you don’t know how to get back on track.

I was in my tenth hour of labor with my firstborn, sweaty and tired from exertion, when I remembered my mother’s advice for childbirth, “Go to the pain.” When she said it months prior, it didn’t make much sense, but now, in the thick of producing a human being from my body, I fully understood the depth of her words.

Labor was immensely painful. As a healthy, young woman I refused medication and wanted to give birth naturally. I strained and cried softly as I feared suffering more pain.

But I pushed through … and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

In the same way that you can’t see a child growing inside the mother’s womb with the naked eye, you may not be able to see what God is doing, but that doesn’t mean that your dream isn’t developing and growing every day inside you. He’s planted it within you, but He can’t do it for you. Don’t let the pain of failure, frustration, insecurity, fear or weakness hold you back from going to the pain.

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

Just like physical pain, emotional pain can hold us back. It can hinder us from finishing the work that was created in us because the sorrow may be too great to bear. Emotional grief sends messages to our pain receptors that the situation is beyond our capabilities, that the hurt will continue hurting if we try to change course. So at times, we accept the heartbreak and refuse to go any further. We hold in the deep ache, hoping it will just go away, or that we’ll just get used to it.

Going to the pain means we’ve garnered a strong resolve that we’ve passed the point of no return and must push through. It might hurt worse before it gets better. But just like childbirth, once the dream is born, the pain subsides and you have something to show for all the intensive labor that went into it.

If I had the opportunity to sit across from you, I would ask you to revisit your dreams of yesteryear and find out what blocked it; what pain stopped the process.

For me, the pain is often not believing in myself enough to push through. I have to remove my lenses of inadequacy and see myself through the eyes of my Creator. Seeing myself in His perspective gives me the courage and strength to step out into the painful areas of life I want to conquer. So ask the Lord how He sees you. Ask Him what He wants to birth in you. And ride on His shoulders of faith to get you through the pain.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)