He Knows Your
Pain When God permits trials, He also provides comfort.
God Knows Your Pain Life is filled with difficult moments, and few hit us more personally and intimately than when we struggle with a severe illness or traumatic injury. Fear, doubt, anxiety, and despair strike at our heart. Coupled with the physical pain, the times when life hurts can be overwhelming. Comfort seems unattainable, and hope’s beyond reach. We long for relief from our pain and answers for our questions. In the Discovery Series booklet Does God Want Me Well? Herb Vander Lugt writes these insightful words: “Without question, many people turn away from God because of the problem of pain. They find it hard to believe that a loving and all-powerful God would permit good people to suffer the way they do. On the other hand, thousands have testified that it was during a time of deep sorrow or intense anguish that they found God more real and precious than ever before.” God can use sickness in the lives of His children to make them wiser and better people. He knows our pain. These selections from Our Daily Bread are designed to help you find your hope in the God of all comfort. If you have enjoyed these articles and would like to receive the Our Daily Bread devotional, just complete the request form on this brochure and return it to us. Our materials are offered at no charge. We are supported by the freewill donations of our members and friends.
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ince 1988, I’ve enjoyed writing several Our Daily Bread articles each month. I’ve felt blessed to dig into Scripture, nexpected observe life, and provide spiritual help in this publication. rief But on June 6, 2002, I found myself unable to offer help. On read: the last day of her junior year 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 of high school, our 17-year-old daughter Melissa was killed in a Blessed be the God and car accident. In one horrible instant, everyFather of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of thing we knew about God and mercies and God of all the Bible and heaven was put to comfort. the test. We needed the Chris—2 Corinthians 1:3 tian community to guide us toward hope as we stood at the funeral of a beloved young woman who had touched so many lives with her smile, her godliness, her love of life, and her care for others. For many weeks, I couldn’t write. What could I say? How could I find words to help others when my family—when I—needed so much? Now, months later as I begin to write again, I can say that God has not changed. He is still our loving heavenly Father, the “God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is still the source of hope in the face of unexpected grief. I write of Him with a renewed sense of my need for His touch, His love, His strength. Broken, I write of the only One who can make us whole. —Dave Branon Day 1
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I have been through the valley of weeping, The valley of sorrow and pain; But the God of all comfort was with me, At hand to uphold and sustain. —Anon. When God permits trials, He also provides comfort.
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o you ever wonder if the Lord has forgotten you? Does it seem as if He’s not paying as much attention to you as He on t orGet once did? If so, remember that appearances can be deceiving. e ord Regardless of how it looks right now, the Lord is not far from you. He may be giving you an read: opportunity to trust Him and wait Psalm 13 for His help rather than rely on your own resources. How long, O Lord? We are all familiar with a Will You forget me similar kind of testing in everyday forever? —Psalm 13:1 life. What parent has not told his child to stay in a certain place until he returns? And what parent is not distressed if that same child is unwilling to wait but quickly runs off on his own? David, the author of Psalm 13, reflected the thoughts of a child of God who certainly must have pleased the heavenly Father. He was being put to the test. He knew the experience of feeling that he had been abandoned by the Lord. Yet he remained convinced that his only real hope was in God, and that He would reward his faith. Are you being tested right now? Does God seem far away? It’s your opportunity to learn what David learned—that the Lord never leaves you. He sustains all who put their trust in Him. —Mart De Haan Day 2
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I’ll walk this day in faith, dear Lord, No foe, no storm I’ll fear; But trusting in Your precious Word, I’m safe, for You are near. —Anon. Trusting God’s faithfulness dispels our fearfulness.
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hen people face trials, they often turn to prayer only as a last resort. I knew a man who was fighting a valiant battle with cancer. As people s t iMe observed the gradual effect on o ray his body and lifestyle, one person said, “Well, they’ve tried read: everything else. I guess it’s time Philippians 4:1-9 to begin praying.” Another man was going through an extremely difficult In everything by time at work. It was a crisis of prayer and major proportions that had omisupplication, with thanksgiving, let your nous implications for him and for the future of his company. He requests be made known to God. just couldn’t resolve it. Finally —Philippians 4:6 he said, “I’ve tried everything I know to get through this situation and nothing has worked. It’s time to start praying.” In both of these instances, prayer was seen as a lastditch effort to resolve the problem. Only after all other options were eliminated did the person decide to pray. It was a desperate “grasping at straws.” Instead of prayer being a last resort, it should be one of the first things we do. The Lord answers prayer, and He wants us to come to Him continually with all of our needs (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The Bible tells us to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer . . . let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). So don’t wait. It’s always time to pray. —Dave Egner Day 3
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Any hour when helping others Or when bearing heavy care Is the time to call our Father— It’s the proper time for prayer. —Zimmerman Prayer should be our first response rather than our last resort.
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o give thanks in every situation is sometimes very difficult. When your body is wracked with pain, or you Hanks or have just learned that you have a physical problem for which Horns there is no cure, or you have lost your job, or a cherished relationread: ship has been broken, it’s hard 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 to feel grateful. But we can learn to thank God because He gives us strength when we feel weak. I take pleasure in That’s why Paul could say, “I infirmities, . . . in take pleasure in infirmities, . . . distresses, for in distresses, for Christ’s sake” Christ’s sake. —2 Corinthians 12:10 (2 Corinthians 12:10). And as believers, we can be grateful that through such experiences God is accomplishing what is best for us. Even through our suffering, He is working for our good (Romans 8:28). Scottish author and preacher George Matheson (1842-1906), who was blind, expressed this prayer: “I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my ‘thorn’ . . . . Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my ‘thorn.’ Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.” As we surrender ourselves to the Lord and remember that He is working in everything to accomplish our ultimate good, we can thank Him even when we are pierced by “thorns.” —Richard De Haan Day 4
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We can give thanks in everything And say, “Your will be done,” For God’s at work in everything To make us like His Son. —D. De Haan It’s easier to bear the burden of suffering when we carry it with gratitude.
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stronomers used Australia’s largest optical telescope to map 100,000 galaxies that surround our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The 3-dimensional earts map covers 5 percent of the nd tars sky and allows us to see 4 billion light-years deep into space. read: The number of stars included Psalm 147:1-11 defies our imagination, but not the knowledge of God. How amazing to read, “He He counts the counts the number of the stars; number of the stars; He calls them all by name. He calls them all by Great is our Lord, and mighty name. in power; His understanding is —Psalm 147:4 infinite” (Psalm 147:4-5). Even more amazing, though, is the psalmist’s affirmation that God, who is far greater than the universe He created, cares about our sorrows. Instead of being remote and aloof, He is close at hand with love and mercy for His own. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” wrote the psalmist. “The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground” (vv.3,6). Jesus Christ, the creator of the galaxies, visited our planet to pay the penalty for our sin and open the way to friendship and fellowship with Him. Today He stands ready to bring healing and wholeness to our deeply wounded spirits. From naming stars to mending hearts, nothing is too hard for God. —David McCasland Day 5
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The Maker of the universe Knows every need of man, And made provision for that need According to His plan. —Crane In creation we see God’s hand; in redemption we see His heart.