It’s Painful on Purpose My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord—how long? Psalm 6:3 (NKJV)
Is there a purpose for pain? Although little is understood about its purpose when we have a hurting heart, we can know that God has a plan and a purpose for it. Some hurts you have endured have been mild to moderate and some were excruciating, but all dissipated over a period of time. Some are new, but there is an end to those, too. In my life I have had many pieces of pain, but I understand more and more that those things had to happen to bring me to a place of hunger and thirst for the Word of God. I find that we can either snowball the pain to make it insurmountable in size and weight, or we can snowball God’s purpose for the pain. Since we know there are no coincidences with God, every piece of pain has value; it has its own purpose. David cried out frequently in anguish and pain, and the Lord heard him. In Psalm 6, he gives a vivid picture of how his heart ached during a period of deep sorrow and distress. He wrote, “I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies” (vv. 6-7). While David does well to describe his pain for us, he does an equally good job of redirecting or shifting from pain to purpose and provision. Crying out in distress as his enemies were pursuing him, David draws nearer to the LORD who heard his weeping voice and supplication and received his prayer. Sometimes, God’s purpose in our pain is to draw us closer in faith. Many times it’s in the water bath—in the groaning and earnest flow of tears—that we will look up. Tell God about the hurt, ask Him to show you the purpose, and ask Him to make provision. Read Psalm 6 Notes/Application___________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 51