40 Days to Lasting Change Day 9
Redeeming the Pain
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
It is not, therefore, the experience of loss that becomes the defining moment of our lives, for that is as inevitable as death, which is the last loss awaiting us all. It is how we respond to loss that matters. That response will largely determine the quality, the direction, and the impact of our lives.
The question is: When difficult circumstances come your way, when there is a famine in the land like that encountered by the Prodigal Son, how will you respond? How are you responding? If you let Him, God will use those circumstances to wake you up and ultimately draw you closer to Him. (Idleman, Kyle. 40 Days to Lasting Change: An AHA Challenge (pp. 70, 74). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
If we will let Him, God will use our circumstances to wake us up. These are not circumstances God created but circumstances we or someone else created. It’s those circumstances of loss which touch the most inner fiber of our being and have a way of revealing what’s really in our hearts and in our heads. As painful as it is, if we will let Him, He will work in those circumstances to wake us up to truth and life. In that dirty, stinky moment beside the hog trough, the Prodigal Son was deeply aware of his loss. His dad didn’t send him there, he went there on his own. His dad didn’t choose his friends he had, and they had chosen to use him and then leave him. In that moment of pain, the son could finally see the priceless love of his father. God doesn’t cause the pain, but He is bigger than the pain and able to use it to save us. Stop blaming and start believing.
From the Kitchen Table 