Life has always found a way of forcing a bitter pill down our throats. Many of us are going through some uncomfortable situations, and for one reason or the other we think GOD has been unfair to us.
Our legitimate petition in prayer has been that we deserve better than what life is offering us now; but, more often than not, these prayers have been met with HIS inexplicable silence.
We have and will always live with pain whether it was self-inflicted (i.e the consequences of bad decisions) or caused by external factors (i.e we had no hand in it. For example, poor family, generational curse, death, betrayal of a friend, divorce of parents and so on).
Given the opportunity, we would change our parents, family background, community, school, job, country and even our personality. With the reason being that we do not have the comfort and joy we desire from all of these.
What are you doing with your pain—both past and present? The wounds and scars of the pain of some people have made them insensitive, bitter, envious and vengeful. The venom produced by their mismanaged pain is spewed on innocent people who come their way.
They want everyone to go through what they’ve been through. The pain caused by a particular situation can make you to develop a mindset, and, might as well, redefine your purpose and pursuit in life. Will you let others gain from your pain, or, with your pain, you’ll seek the bane of others?
During the reign of Solomon, one woman slept on her baby boy, and the baby died. Her loss redefined her pursuit overnight, and being filled with envy, she blurted out to a woman in the same house who also had a baby boy who was alive, “…Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him” (1 Kings 3:26). She wanted someone else to suffer what she’s suffered and lose what she had lost. Joseph on the other hand, chose to deliver his people from famine despite the pain his brothers caused him. He chose not to be embittered and vengeful.
When your pain is caused by a wrong decision, you can tell others of the likely consequences of such actions. David’s prayer in Psalm 51:12 & 13 was that GOD should restore him, so he can tell others to refrain from that path. Most of us have been able to avoid certain pitfalls because some men who suffered pain from their mistakes did not keep it from us. This is why GOD included the necessary failures, weaknesses and defeats of even great characters in the Bible. Your pain can save countless people from being wounded.
Philippians 1:12, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” The pain caused by an external factor is not meant to ruin you. The ministry of encouragement, giving, intercession, among others could be birthed during your painful experiences.
You have to choose what to do with your pain. Some who have made it after a struggling past, encourage child prostitution or engage in human trafficking. On the contrary, others have decided to build orphanages, cloth the naked and feed the hungry.
Some of the uncomfortable situations I’ve gone through as an individual in life have vigorously dug a well of inexhaustible compassion and mercy in me. That is why I personalise this Scripture in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “… that though I am rich, I’ve been made poor, so that others through my poverty might be rich.” I’ve been through these painful experiences, so that, through my pain, I’ll have limitless compassion for others, and bless all who come my way. Don’t be bitter and vengeful. Let others gain from your pain.
By: Adams Prince Amoah.
Email address: adamsprince50@gmail.com
Phone number: 0247471288.
Blog address: avitwblog.wordpress.com
