pain

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Talking to my friend Kevin McMillan last week about my son who suffers from migraines and my daughter who has some stomach issues. Kevin can relate. Since I've known him as a seminary student moonlighting here at Man in the Mirror, Kevin has bravely fought Crohn's Disease. (Kevin might not say "bravely", but since I never actually saw him cry, I'll call him brave.)

We were talking about a profound statement my son had made after a middle school youth group retreat. For some reason, the retreat theme was 'suffering' - I know, odd for 10-12 year olds. But even though the kid has these migraines that hurt so bad they make him puke his guts out, he told me that some people suffer a lot more than he does. And when he has a migraine, he is thankful that it's not worse. Pretty deep for a 10-year-old (at the time).

Kevin made a profound statement, at that point. A great observation:

The greatest pain is the pain in the moment. But the
One who created the moment is greater than the pain.

When you're going through your own pain, it can be so consuming. You might not feel like you can ever survive it. Why? The greatest pain is the pain I am experiencing right now. But, in the midst of that pain, the comfort is that God is the One who created the moment.

Peter says that character is produced through suffering. Perhaps part of developing character is learning the lessons from the pain: I will get through this. I am stronger than this struggle. I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me.

We can say those things so easily. Perhaps one of the "gifts" of suffering is that it helps us learn to believe them.

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photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/missrogue/522823385/