I was leading a Tworship Service (Twitter Worship Service) along with my friend Richard Mayhan and one of the tweets I sent out from the song sparked a conversation. The song was I will Rise from Chris Tomlin and the tweet is below:
After the thank you’s were done, I went back through my feed and found a question from Slavik G. Was that actually possible here on earth….”no more sorrow, no more pain? I sent back a reply that said it was a good question and answered as best as I could in a few tweets. After giving it more thought, I wanted to go into it a little more here and see what discussion we can drum up for Slavik.
The Bible says we are going to suffer, it’s clearly a matter of when. We know it’s coming and when we are suffering we are supposed to be giving glory to the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Peter 4:13 & 16. We are also reminded that even though there will be tribulations in this world, that HE has covercome the world! (John 16:33)
Isaiah 40:31 says But They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Our sufferings is not a surprise to the Lord. He tell us over and over to “wait”, to “be still”, to “fear not.” God tells us over and over again that HE is our strength. He will carry us. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that we will not face more than we can handle. But our hearts get fearful, the load we carry weighs us down and the sorrow and pain become overwhelming and we feel like we can’t take a single step forward.
The JOY of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10
So, the question is – what do you do to move beyond the things that weigh us down, that burden our hearts so deeply. Is there a fail safe recipe for success, a one size fits all answer? No. There is not.
You have to dive deep into the Word of God and get your faith sure and steadfast. Surround yourself with verses like Psalms chapter 46, 91 and even 23. Look up every verse on strength or fear not and remind yourself that you are not alone and allow your faith to grow during times of hardships and trouble.
Another thing I do is fill my heart with song. I literally praise the hurt away. Sometimes when the “hurt” just won’t ease up, I just sing anyway. What are your favorite songs? What songs remind you to keep going, that God is in control? Play them. Wrap your heart in them.
Also, surrounding yourself with people that will encourage you, inspire you and lift you up in prayer is another way to work through the hardships. This is a priceless gift. Friends that will pray with me at 2am. Friends that will ask what can I do to help and then be there, be available. Friends that will just sit and cry with you when the words won’t come to help calm you. I want to be THAT kind of friend.
Looking at this from another view, my friend flux613 asked – “and if possible here, would we hunger for heaven?” and the answer is no, we wouldn’t. Our trials and tribulations help our hearts to hunger for heaven. We are to thirst for His coming. Revelation 22:20 – “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
What do you think? What is your take? Do you have faith that you’ll rise and soar on wings as eagles? Are you enjoying a season free of pain and sorrow right now? If so, are you encouraging those around you?
Are you longing for heaven? Is your prayer that of “even so Lord come quickly?”
Tell me – what do you do to make it through the difficulites of pain and sorrow?
As stated earlier I lead an online Music Worship Service on Twitter– Tworship (Twitter Nightly Worship) along with my partner and Co-Creator Richard Mayhan each week night at 9pm EST. You can follow Richard on Twitter at @mcProdigal and on twitter I am @spreadingJOY. Hope you’ll join us. (Click the above link for more info on how we started Tworship and what to do to join in!) Click here for More about Tworship Leader Richard Mayhan and Here for more about Tworship Leader Marie Wikle
