Overcoming: Devotions from Time of GraceНамуна

Pain Reminds Me That I Need God

"Leave me alone. I can do this by myself." Parents are secretly glad to hear this from their preschoolers who proudly tie their shoelaces on their own. It is good to become independent.

But declaring independence from God is a whole other matter. Jesus once said that being cut off from God was as sure a path to death as when a branch is hacked off the central vine. Disconnected branches become dry, dead branches very soon. So do disconnected people who die in their rebellion against God.

God loves us so much that he sometimes uses pain as a wake-up call to remind us of how much we need him. God's agenda, God's strength, God's wisdom, and God's love all build us up to be bigger and better people than we could ever be without him. St. Paul said, "That's why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). Here's a lovely irony--his power is made perfect in my weakness!

Hey--wise up!