Love Abiding in Pain

This past week I had the honor of being a counselor to 8 middle school girls. Nothing terrified me more than the thought of middle school girls. The tension of growing up and innocence is thriving at that age. Fortunately, my cabin of girls calmed my fear.

Our third night at camp, we read Max Lucado's You Are Special together and reflected on the people or things which validate our value. Each girl was given a sharpie and wrote that person or thing on the rock. One by one, I saw my campers chuck those rocks into the water. Tears rolled down cheeks, and hugs were shared. To my surprise, I began to cry. How could any of these beautiful, unique, and loving girls not feel beautiful, unique, or loved? The beauty I saw in their conversation, singing, and praying was as evident as the sky is blue. My heart broke to see their hearts break because of the lies the world believes to be true. I had been in that place - putting my worth and value in people that didn't selflessly and completely love me or in ideas that were unachievable and impossible. Due to years of growing up, I continue to visit that place on bad days or weeks but for the most part I have safely survived that place. I have learned to put my value in the One who sought to save me; to put my worth in my Redeemer. It took a lot of hard life lessons and heartache to figure out how to find my value in Him. Knowing that my campers would have to learn that very painful and hard life lesson brought tears to my eyes. 

I felt the pain they were feeling, their pain was my pain. But there was beauty in the sharing of our pain. After only a couple of days these girls were comforting one another, affirming one another, understanding each other's pain. I was able to comfort, love, and guide. Our shared pain created an opportunity to thrive in His shared love. His love doesn't only survive our pain - His love abides in and overwhelms the pain. It's a strange concept; love abiding in pain. But God abides in all, He even abides in our pain and suffering.

As children of God, we are given the gift to live a life of inevitable pain and brokenness with the comfort and redemption of His love. Our pain will still hurt. Our hearts will still break. But God will be in that pain, and God will be in that heart break. God will continue to abide in our struggle so that by His grace our weaknesses may show His strength.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

 In pain and suffering, we realize the separation of God and man. We have no choice but to feel the hurt and surrender to the One who abides in us. The darkest days of my 21 year old life all have something in common - I had no control over the grief. No matter how hard I tried, the grief and pain still took over. In dark places like those, you realize your complete lack of ability to do anything but be still. Through that humble stillness, God abides in your pain, in your suffering, in your weaknesses. In His abiding and in our surrendering, His love turns our pain into power. When we acknowledge God in our pain - we give Him power to use the world's brokenness as a testimony to the Gospel.

The Gospel was shared in every hug, chucked rock, and tear shed that night between my 8 campers.

His love thrived in our pain. We were strengthened by Him through our weaknesses. Praise the One who not only abides in a world of sinners but turns their weakness and pain into a building block for the kingdom.