By Tonja Condray Klein – Written 06/24/17
Have you lost someone that you loved but are glad to see them no longer in pain?
Have you left a place that you loved but are relieved to go because it hurt to stay?
Have you made decisions that you knew were right but beat yourself up anyway?
That’s when it hurts too much to laugh or cry. The logical part of you is feeling okay because ‘this’ is the better of two possible outcomes, but the hurting part is wailing like a banshee because it’s always painful to let go of the known to go into the unknown, especially if you don’t have another choice once the initial choice is made. Looking back won’t give you much solace. Looking forward can be so terrifying you may hesitate to even hope for a silver lining. The choices we make pattern our lives, and even after you pray, discuss it with trusted friends or family, and maybe even give up trying to understand, if it doesn’t let go then depression, frustration, aggravation, and even self-annihilation may try to take over more.
Apostle Paul said it this way in Philippians 1:23-24 “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” He was ‘betwixt” because he wanted to stay where he was to complete his calling and yet wanted to go away to Heaven to get out of this mess. When life gets hard it’s easy to feel betwixt and want to get away from all of the pain, anger, and absolute heart-rending situations that everyday life thrusts upon us. Paul’s reason for staying was ‘needful for you’, meaning the people he was writing. Who is it that you being here is “needful” for?
Right away, some of you thought, “No one”, but if that were true, and you are a believer in Christ Jesus, then why are you still here? Maybe you haven’t found the ‘needful for you’ people yet that God is waiting for you to minister to and maybe see saved by His Grace. Maybe you have already found them but don’t know what you’re supposed to do. There are a lot of people who are so trapped in the past and so fearful of the future that they can’t see the opportunities here and now. Maybe you aren’t a great speaker, singer, or musician, but maybe you are a person who listens, cares, consoles, and encourages others just by being YOU that has Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.
What do you do when it hurts too much to laugh or cry? Pray, read the Word, listen to uplifting music, and most of all DON’T SHUT DOWN. Don’t let Satan win by making you so torn up you don’t see the possibilities that God is opening up for you without you even realizing it. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “That He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” If you need another promise then check out Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment though shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”
Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give Out, and Don’t Give In! Claim your promises and keep believing they are all true. It may take a long time for them to be seen in reality, and the hurt may not go away soon enough by your timing, but God Almighty through the Lord Jesus Christ is NEVER too late. Even when we feel our moment of ministry or lack thereof went past and we failed God, Jesus promised that He’d never leave or forsake us. Sometimes the difficult times are to teach us something we need to learn to pass onto someone that needs it even more than you do. We are all on a journey that is this ever-changing interposition of our Divine Destiny and our Free Will. Our Free Will may fail, but God’s Destiny in you is secured by Christ.
~ TCK ~