10-56am
God never wastes pain
I first heard this phrase when listening to Liz Curtis Higgs some years ago when she visited Cape Town for the Beauty for Ashes conference.
I’ve called it to mind and shared with friends many times since.
God never wastes pain.
All of us go through pain during various stages of our lives. The thing with pain is that it hurts! Generally, we want to avoid it as much as possible. But as much as we try and stay clear of pain, it comes our way sooner or later in some way, whether it be physical pain and suffering or emotional pain. It could be heartbreak or grief.
There was once this family who suffered terribly. A husband and wife lived with their two sons and their wives. The husband died and the wife went into mourning. It was not an easy time. Adjustments were made and the sons looked after their mom. For some reason, the two sons never had children. Time passed and shockingly both sons died. Now there was just the mom-in-law (MIL) and her two daughters-in- law (DIL) and no grandchildren. It could have made for a really irritating set of circumstances. The MIL decided to move back to the place from where she originally came. She told her DILs to go back to their family and move on with their lives. There would be other husbands and no doubt, in time, children. One DIL did, but the other (her name was Ruth) refused and insisted on following her MIL back to her old home.
It was just as well she did. After all the pain and loss of becoming a very young widow, she met someone (in a grain field) and there was pretty much an instant attraction. Her MIL was really pleased and gave her some advice as to what to do. The guy she met was wealthy and had a lot of land. She hung out at the farm and was invited out by the rich, single farmer. He was very generous to her and her MIL. When the time was right, the MIL suggested Ruth make a bit of serious move on this guy. She did. She threw herself at him. He was surprised, but not unhappy. Wanting to do the right thing, he didn’t take advantage of her, but rather followed protocol and went about arranging how he could marry her.
Out of extreme pain and loss, Ruth married – finding both love and wealth. And, she fell pregnant and had a son. That son was King David’s grandfather and as a baby he bought much joy to his grandmother, Naomi.
Ruth 4:16-17
Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
You can read the whole story in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament.
God never wastes pain.
Through Ruth’s line, Jesus came.
What God has done for others, He will do for you!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂