HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Genesis 50:20 (AMP) - As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].
Psalm 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
No one likes pain.
If you do there is something wrong with the way that you are wired.
As you mature you learn to embrace pain, and to make pain work for you.
When I was playing football one of the things our coaches would tell us constantly during practice and in the weight-room was – “NO Pain, No Gain”.
While this is true and motivating it still doesn’t feel good.
Pain is important because it is a signal designed to alert us when something is wrong. Our response to pain is important because we can pay attention to it and get to the root of the problem, or we can ignore it or numb it and allow it to persist until the cause of the pain damages us. We live in a time when people want to be comforted and told that everything will be alright. The truth is that somethings are not going to be alright unless change is made.
Now in a world where hurt, depression, disappointment, and difficulty are in great supply we need encouragement, help and a lift up.
When developing soldiers into Navy Seals all of them must go through “Hell Week” before they can earn the Seal Trident.
When my son was going through Ranger School it was an intensive time of training and testing that took them to the very limits of their physical, emotional and mental endurance before they could earn the privilege of being known as member of the “Special Forces” community.
Every believer will go through seasons of pain because God has a greater purpose for their life. We must also realize and deal with the fact that God has a greater purpose when He allows some pain to come into our lives. – Remember there is a purpose that is greater than the pain.
Joseph was about 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery, and he was 30 years old when the vision that God had given Him, that He would become a great leader, was finally fulfilled.
The years in between were filled with a lot of painful experiences: the betrayal of his brothers, being sold into slavery, being falsely accused of rape by his master’s wife, and then being thrown into prison, and seemingly forgotten. Even the people that he helped and promised to help him forgot about him as their life turned to the better.
It was the dreams and promises that God had given Joseph as a teenager back in his father’s house, that assured Joseph that he had a divinely ordained purpose and destiny, that he never forgot.
As Joseph trusted God, and responded to his suffering in faith and humility, God used his painful circumstances to mold and shape him for his destiny. God didn’t cause his suffering, but God used his pain to prepare him for something much greater.
God works the same way in all of our lives. Not through the same set of circumstances and pain but through our own unique trials that prepare us for a greater work of Glory.
We must refuse to allow the intensity and frequency of our pain to keep us from seeing the activity of God in our pain.
Wherever Joseph went, as a slave in Potiphar’s house, in prison, or before Pharoah, God was with him, and gave him extraordinary favor.
In spite of his pain, God’s hand was upon him, and he experienced promotion and doors of opportunity even in the midst of his painful experiences.
The intensity of his pain did not prevent him from seeing the activity of God. – for many of us the only thing we can focus on is pain. Joseph kept his focus on God’s purpose.
Just because you are in pain does not mean that you are not in God’s will. As a matter of fact, you are probably right in the middle of His plan.
The way we respond to our pain is more important than the weight of our pain.
Often when we experience pain it consumes us and attempts to control our response.
We need to make the choice, like Joseph, to see our pain from the perspective of faith and humble ourselves before God and allow Him to have His way in us.
When you look at those used mightily by God what sets them apart is their response and how they deal with difficult situations.
They were not grumblers and complainers.
They did not blame God or curse Him. -Sometimes they did question Him.
Even when wronged they stayed humble and had a good attitude.
Joseph in his deepest trials continued to walk by faith and to stay humble before God.
God always lifts up those who humble themselves before God even in their times of pain.
There are times that God allows us to feel the pain and weight of our own shame and conviction as we reap what we sow.
There are times that the pain we feel is the sorrow of our own poor choices that lead us to the natural consequences of sin, pride, selfishness, and plain stubbornness.
2 Corinthians 7:10 - For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Repentance is not only feeling sorry for what you have done and the results that you have gotten but to a real change of heart and mind.
Pain changes both our behavior and our way of thinking. – Once you touch a hot stove you are sorry you did it and adjust your life accordingly.
Someone said that this verse could be translated – The Pain you feel in response to God dealing with you has produces a real change and deliverance.
This is what happens at the time of Salvation. We see the depth of our sin and the pain it brought to Christ making His sacrifice necessary.
In the same way God allows us to feel Godly sorrow even after we
are saved to deal with our sinful ways and the effects it has on ourselves and others.
The impact of our pain will exceed the experience of our pain, when we allow God to use it for His glory.
Philippians 3:10 (AMP) - And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];
Paul was able to experience resurrection power because he knew what it was to die to himself. Throughout his ministry he suffered and endured the pain of many trials and tribulations sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Because of this many people came to Christ and Paul saw many incredible miracles.
There is not growth without suffering. We suffer with Christ, and we share HIS suffering and His results
Because Joseph understood that there was a purpose greater than his pain, God was able to use him to not only save Egypt from starvation but more importantly, his own family, they were the seed to the nation of Israel.
Even greater than that, it was through Joseph’s faithfulness in the pain that the Savior of the World would come just as God had promised through the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
This is why Joseph could look at his brothers and say.
Genesis 50:20 (AMP) - As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].
THE PURPOSE IS GREATER THAN YOUR PAIN!
May God bless you this month. Know that there are amazing things that God is doing in and through your life.
Thank you for joining us as we fast and pray through the month of September for our church during the remainder of the year. Also make our nation a matter of prayer as we head into another election season. Our hope is not in politicians but in Jesus. How we vote is a reflection of the moral direction of our nation.
May God’s richest blessings be on you and your family.
You are Loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay