Whenever we find ourselves in pain, we want it to go away fast.
This is true of all kinds of pain... whether it be physical or the pain of loneliness, frustration, loss or regret.
The challenge for any of us is what we do with our pain when it comes.
Do we wallow in it?
Or maybe use it as an excuse to escape through a destructive habit?
Or, do we use it as reason to draw near to God?
C.S. Lewis once made the point that pain is God's megaphone to rouse us from our inattentiveness to Him.
Viewed this way, pain can be seen as a gift...
... as we allow it to turn our attention away from our inward despair and toward His renewing grace.
If you are in pain today, let it be God's instrument to reorient your life to Him.
And may He use it to refine you in such a way that your present suffering ends up leading to something good.
Pain is not a reason to quit, but an opportunity to be turned into someone new... who can be used by God in new and better ways.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you"
(1 Pet.5:10).