Hurting With Hope - From Levi LuskoSample

Day 6: Pain is a Microphone

God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, but He is sovereign and nothing happens outside His permission. The devil is the one ultimately responsible for evil. Sometimes it seems that life is out of control, and more is given to us than we can bear. But everything is under God’s control, and He leads us to breakthrough when we worship Him, no matter what we’re going through. His endgame is to sabotage all your suffering and use what was meant for evil to accomplish His purposes. The apostle Paul said: 

And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28). 

God’s people need to be open to seeing how God redeems our heartaches. Enormous good can come to you when you let God use your heartache. It doesn’t make the pain stop, but it does help heal your heart. It’s not always easy to minister to someone who is hurting; sometimes we might just as soon not go there because it brings up painful emotions and memories. But if we push through and let God use our pain, we will always be glad we did—not only just for the help it brings to others, but also for the peace it brings to our own heart. 

God wants you to shine brightly. Jesus said, “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matt. 5:16, NLT). God wants to use your hardships to touch other peoples’ lives. Your pain shouldn’t be wasted. But to live a life that brings glory to God, we are going to have to walk by faith and not by sight. 

How might you use your hardships to help other people? 

To keep exploring hurting with hope, find out more about the Bible study at lifeway.com/lion.