All posts tagged: Pain

He daily bears my burdens


There is a phrase I love to use every moment I get the chance. It is not just a slogan or a catchy phrase for me – it’s a deeply theological truth that I believe with all my heart. ‘God is Good’ The bible says, “You are good and do good.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:68‬ ‭ESV‬‬ I believe this with every bone within me. God is Good! It is from this vintage point that I try to convince people who struggle with pain and suffering in this life. Too often we blame God for our misfortune, and accuse him of cruel indifference. But scripture is clear: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:15‬ ‭ESV‬‬ I am so glad that God suffers with me in my confusion of pain and suffering. I am so glad that God suffers with me in my struggle against sin. I am so glad that God suffers with me …

She fights for her life and nobody knows


Okay, I was on Google+ last nigh and I came across this wonderful animated stop motion video posted by Christopher Michel. It was the most creative thing I’ve seen in a while. I must confess that I’m not familiar with stop motion that much, so I obsessed with it for a while, sending it to a few people. I wanted to post it on my blog but I didn’t know who was singing and what the song was. I am kind of dogmatic sometimes about – what I call “worldly music.” Anyways, since I watched the thing for more than a million times :0 I couldn’t help but think about this line – “she fights for her life and nobody knows.” That kind of hit me. How many times do we meet people who are going through difficult times and we fail to go deeper, beyond the smiles, the fancy cloths, nice shoes and great makeup? Or, how many times we carry stuff, and instead of getting real and vulnerable, we hide behind a mask. …

Dance in the Rain? We can’t dance until we lean how to lament.


Written by Janelle Wangle with Jayleen Wangle via Bible Insight Just about everyone has heard the anonymous saying, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.” I wonder what the original author meant by “dance”? If they meant that we just tell ourselves to be happy or at least pretend to be happy and “look for the silver lining,” then I disagree with the saying. But if dance means to have intimacy with God, then I heartily agree. The last line of Michael Card’s song “Underneath the Door” says: “Pain is the pen that writes the songs and they call us forth to dance.” Card is calling us to dance to the songs that pain has written for us. These songs are written in major and minor keys. Many times they are not “beautiful,” and in fact are quite harsh, but the finished product is a masterpiece. Learning to Lament How do we dance to these songs? By being real with God. That’s the only way …

Beautiful Ugly Scars


At 4 I started skipping school to go play what we call football, not America Football, but Football – the real deal. If you are still confused, I am talking about soccer. I can’t begin to tell you how many scars I have on my body from injuries playing soccer. But as rough as soccer can be, my most painful and visible scars did not come from playing soccer. I have eleven stitches on my right pinkie and 9 stitches on the right side of my face close to my ear and they were inflicted on me by my evil sister. The injuries were punishment for telling on her. She was not to bring boys home, but one evening I caught her in the back yard kissing a guy. When she realized that I had flagged her down, she came after me with a vengeance. Her weapon of choice was one of those hard old fashioned Swedish Slippers. The next thing I knew, I was being rushed to the hospital. All of us carry some kind …