Can we be honest about something? Pain sucks. You know it. I know it. You never expect a pastor to say it. But I did. Because it does. A reality check – every single person you know is struggling with a pain you likely know nothing about. Pain can be physical, emotional, mental, relational, or even spiritual. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Pain is as unique as our personalities and fingerprints.
 
So what can we do about it? I want to talk about that over the next weeks in a new series called Pity or Perseverance. We’re talking about how the pains of life present a choice: wallow in self-pity or become stronger by turning to God. From now until Easter, we will explore the Bible to discover how to become stronger while facing pain. Specifically, we’ll unpack 5 choices that make all the difference between pity and perseverance. 

 

Pain is personal to me. If you know my story, you know I suffer from chronic pain in a variety of forms including a headache over the last two and half years that my doctors cannot alleviate no matter what we’ve tried. It’s easy, even natural, to turn to self-pity. Been there, done that. The questions are endless. The solutions always seem a little beyond your grasp. The number one goal when we are in pain: Get out of it. In self-pity and the desire to numb our pain, we feel stuck, wallowing in isolation and self-sufficiency. There has to be a better way to live. There is. I’m not promising I can take away your pain, but I am pointing us to the One who will one day end pain, suffering, sin, grief, and death – forever.

 

If you come to Harvest this Sunday, I’ll give you a free copy of a book I wrote about pain and perseverance called Letters to My Friends in Pain. If you can’t make it to Harvest or would like additional copies for friends, they can be purchased HERE.
 
God is doing something special these days that you don’t want to miss. And your friends truly need to experience what God is doing. So, bring someone with you this week at 9:00am or 10:45am. If you can’t make it in person, we’re online at 9:00am and all week.