It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.
~ A.W. Tozer
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
~ Philippians 2:5-10
Oh beloved, in Christ, there is never ever a need for us to feel self-inflicted pain again. We have been set free for freedom’s sake. This is most surely true.
There are, however, the ghosts of our past and the skeleton’s in our closet that must be removed, if we are ever to be truly useful to the One who has saved us. The new creation we are makes any of that old stuff simply untenable in this new Life we have in Him. We can change – He can do this in our lives.
He is making the wretched dust we were into something gorgeous. Something perfect and beautiful. And it is here where the pain of growth comes in. We must be humbled. We must be wounded. We must have the idols of our old life – sometimes – crushed out of our hands, that they may become empty enough to be able to pick up our cross and follow Him.
He sometimes even must cut deeply into us. AAAAGHHH! OH, PLEASE NOT THAT! PLEASE DON’T CUT THAT AWAY!!! I WILL JUST DIE IF YOU DO! And He keeps cutting until we do finally die. Until there is absolutely nothing left of the old, fallen man we were.
In this world, during the process, there are even holes; gaping wounds from the past. They are no longer fetid and infected, but they will not quite ever close up just right in this life. They kinda ache like they are never gonna get totally better. We kinda go through the day, and bump some of those wounds and say “ow!” once in a while.
But there grows a wonderful aspect to these wounds. They let His Light inside us, shine out into the darkness around us. And this Light actually makes the wounds beautiful. The Light of His Presence brings a strength to us – and those around us – in a way totally impossible to anyone unless they be weakened to this point before.
How is it possible to both hurt and be so joyful at the same time? He makes everything beautiful in our lives. Everything is full of beautiful portent and hope. He makes these things so. The tearing away of the old in our lives, only gives more room for Him to invade with His peace and joy and comfort and hope and Love and Life.
Oh friend, this is mysterious, but it is most surely true.
Is He cutting into you right now?
Let Him. The beauty on the other side of this process is worth the pain.
Let Him.
