The Purifying Power of Pain
Pain can be a great purifier. It tests us, it tries us, it reveals us to us. Pain is often the place we find out what we are made of, what we really believe and exactly where our hope is placed. Pain is a mighty instrument of God’s grace. It is in the moments of greatest pain that we see what we are trusting in, where the foundation of our hope is bedded and exactly how deep our trust in God is. In the last year I have experienced more pain than I ever thought possible. But in the moments of greatest pain I found out one thing: Jesus is all I need. I found out that “my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ my righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame but only trust in Jesus name.” On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. For me the words of Psalm 23 became like bread and water. I prayed them back to God in confession, in desperation, in faith. I prayed them over and over, usually many, many times a day, meditating on