Day 8

Present pain can make people do funny things. At the onset of an injury, whether physical or emotional, the people around us are usually compassionate and understanding. But as the newness wears off, compassion can fade and assumptions can take root. Did we do something to cause our situation? Is it a punishment? Are we just overlooked by the Lord?

Elizabeth and Zechariah walked through years of infertility. Not only did they long for a child like many couples, but barrenness was particularly frowned upon during their time which added to their heartache. The presence of pain lingered long after the first time they realized having a child was not going to happen the way they’d hoped it would.

How do we walk through the pain with integrity and honesty when seasons turn to years or even decades?

Elizabeth and Zechariah remained faithful to their hope for a child (even as painful as it must have been to see it be unrealized day after day) and their role as a priestly family. They show us that disappointment and hope can coexist in a broken world. We can trust the Lord with our lives, even when we don’t understand why we have pain, because He is Lord.

One day, their prayers for their future became their present reality. The angel told Zechariah that God had heard their prayers for a child. What had seemed impossible to man was suddenly made real with God. When the world gives you reasons to give up on having any hope, remember that great mercy was preceded by cries of great pain over and over throughout history. The same God who heard Israel in slavery, David fleeing from Saul, and the heartache of Elizabeth is the same God listening to every word on your lips.

This week, we lean into present pain. Not because we wallow in pity, but because our present pain offers the opportunity for us to connect with the Lord and express our faith (however big or small it may be) that He is true to His Word and that there is joy to come through our trials. Rather than seeing our circumstances as discomfort to avoid, let’s lean in to seek the comfort God can provide to those who pursue Him wholeheartedly.

Action Step: What is the present pain you see in and around your life? Don’t give up on your prayers and pursuing the comfort of God’s presence. Recommit your trust to the Lord by bringing those hurts to Him in prayer again today.