thanx for the pain...

It took an extra bit of supernatural strength to make it to church this morning. After shooting a wedding I'm usually crashed to the world - especially after a hot, long day with my camera and a couple of lovely folks enjoying their new life together! But despite my exhaustion setting in, I knew that church would be awesome - and I hate missing out...
Being thanxgiving and all, we had a little bit of a theme happening, and during worship God was speaking to my spirit of what it meant to truly give thanx in ALL things. It's easy to worship and thank God when things are great...but in the face of pain, sickness, trials - we can turn on God with a complaining spirit and wonder out loud why He isn't listening to our prayers.
The reality of it is that He's already answering...
For example...thanx to years of abuse in sports, my knees and ankles are a bit of an interesting mix (oh alright...I'm just getting old!) EIther way, kneeling can be a bit of a painful experience. I avoid it with excuses and discomfort. Why would God require me to do something so painful? I've prayed for healing, and know that God has the power and ability in one word to make all things new...and yet He hasn't...
And it was in this moment that I realized why...why not everything is geared to our comfort and ease. Why healing does not always come in the way we would like. When something costs something, or hurts to accomplish - the journey testifies to the value of what is being pursued. Our pain is often the conduit that God uses to deepen the reality of our relationship with Him. He's not into maintaining fairweather Christians...He's into rooting His children in His love so that we can truly experience the depth of who He is.
I often wondered why God did not take the "thorn in the flesh" away from Paul. Here was a man who healed others, who pursued God with his whole heart... who endured terrible trials to proclaim Christ to the world. You would think he was due for a little ease... and yet it remained, and despite its presence, he maintained his relationship with God. He continued to pursue...to praise...to give thanks. He continued to testify in the face of discomfort and personal pain that God was good.
This is the very chord of our worship. We praise and thank God because He is good...(and to coin the cliche...ALL THE TIME!!!) His goodness does not change. It is not lessened by the struggles we face - rather it is heightened by His faithfulness through them. Circumstances do not change God's goodness...but sometimes they can change our perspective on God. When we truly catch a glimpse of God's goodness, whatever we face or endure in this lifetime will not alter that truth. If our praise and thanx are hinged on what we are experiencing, we will constantly be riding a rollercoaster of emotions and doubts at each bend in the road.
Besides pain being an opportunity God gives us to realize His value in our lives, God was also speaking of all the things He was accomplishing through pain...sounds crazy, I know. BUT IT'S TRUE!
I was reminded of the story of Corrie tenBoom, a woman who faced the hells of WWII concentration camps. Her sister made her thank God for all the horrible conditions they faced at Ravensbruck...for the crowded barracks...for the lack of blankets...for the fleas. These things scream at our flesh to complain and shift our focus from God, who is turning to good what was intended for evil, and onto what is affecting us. And yet, it was these very things that God was using to accomplish a greater purpose - for there is no pit so deep that God isn't deeper still...there is no situation that He does not have His hand in - and it is in the darkness of these moments that He can take us into the depths of Himself.
Pastor B. made an awesome point this morning. It dealt with a thanxgiving dinner many years ago when a man broke bread and GAVE THANX...for the bread that represented his body, and the wine that represented his blood. Jesus celebrated the first thanxgiving meal with his disciples - giving thanx to God for a sacrifice he hadn't yet made and what would be accomplished for mankind through it. Profound! Humbling...
Truly the pathway of pain is not the route most would choose to meet God on...and yet, when you seek His face with a spirit of thanxgiving, it will not matter what you are facing, His goodness will remain. It will strengthen you. Deepen you. Accomplish things through you.
What can I do but praise you? What can I do but give my heart to you? To get down on my knees before you (as painful as it may be) and thank you for all things...in all things...because YOU ARE SO GOOD!