Grace and Pain

“They gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains.”

Contrary to what many Christians believe, peace is not the absence of fear; joy, the absence of sorrow; victory, the absence of battle; nor grace, the absence of its opposite. If one did not have the latter running along side of the former, how would you know you really possessed the better of the two?

This is true with grace and pain. Grace doesn’t take away the pain. Grace is not the absence from pain, but an addition to it. GRACE IS AN ADDITIVE. It’s the crutch or wheelchair that enable us to, “keep-on-keeping-on!” It doesn’t take away the limp or paralysis. God didn’t take away Paul's painful thorn, He gave him something to keep him going.

I have always found it difficult to be patient when in pain, but I’m learning. It seems pain brings out the best and worst in people. Some, like in our text above, blaspheme His name, others bless His name. I want to be among the latter. When God permits pain in our lives, each of us has one of two choices: to KISS the Son; or curse the Creator.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes...neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”