“Pain is God’s megaphone. He whispers to us in our joys, speaks to us in our conscience, and shouts to us in our pain.” C.S. Lewis
Pain… I think that I’ve yet to meet a person on the planet who has not struggled at some point with the problem of pain. There are plenty of words that are easily associated with pain. One word that I have recently learned to associate with pain is this… longing. We live in a world filled with it. We daily walk through a culture that is so saturated with instant gratification that we are often left with hollow, corpses of people interacting at surface level seeking the next moment that they will be briefly fulfilled. In the pit of it all there is that deep longing that persists and will not be silenced. We who are believers still experience longing, sometimes brief, sometimes overwhelming. The thing about longings is they are never really quenched. In very nature and definition, longings are things that persist and are not satisfied.
The topic of longing and hungering for something is somewhat new to me in certain aspects, but lately it has been one megaphone in which God has screamed quite a few things in my direction. I’ve learned that longings, rather than being a cause of complete devastation, are a cause for surrender.
It is funny to me the things that God will ask for as a sacrifice. For Abraham, it was his firstborn, the seed of his promise. For the widow, it was her last two coins. For a boy in a field it was his lunch. For me as of late, it has been a sacrifice of heart, longings, and dreams. It is interesting how hard it can be to let go of longings you never wished to open yourself up to in the first place. However, when God calls for the sacrifice to be made you are left with two options: hold on, or surrender. Surrender as it seems to me would be the best option, because while surrender may lead to pain it will always ultimately lead to something even more glorious than we could have imagined. Along with the choice of surrender the option for bitterness is left wide open. At times the desire to shrivel up and rely on self, to shut out the world, seems so temping. Yet, as I am in the process of learning, a little bit of transparency and openness with those God provides to help get you through is one of the most valuable things that come along with the trial.
As I am moving through the process of surrender I’m finding one resounding theme: GOD IS FAITHFUL! When you decide to make the choice to sacrifice the longings of the heart He begins to change the temperature and mood of your heart. He transforms the pain, the longing, the hollow desire to escape feeling and emotions. He makes them something so much more than the longing could have ever been in the first place, had it been fulfilled. If you will allow Him to do so, He will transform the longing into a deep seeded desire, hunger, and yearning for Himself. The amazing thing about this type of yearning is that He is more than happy to fill it to overflowing time and time again. The once hollow shell of unsatisfied longing, is replaced by a depth that is replenished daily. I’m certain that the pain and the trials and the temptation to return to the longing may linger. I suppose that’s why our lives are a process and why we must continue to die to self daily. I by no means have this all figured out, but so far this is what I have seen to be true. Love you all. Praying that each of you will be strong as you daily face the world in which we live. May we all bring him glory in every moment as we navigate this life together. May we not be afraid of a little transparency from time to time and realize God has put us all together for a reason.
“Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:9
