God has made us in such a way that when our bodies and minds are not in a right way, we normally feel pain. Its also normal to feel pain when we suffer some kind of
loss - financial loss, the loss of a loved one, or rejection by someone we like.
Perhaps you have a lot of pain in your life even now. The first thing to realise is that pain is there for a reason. It shows us that something is wrong. Certainly something is wrong with the world. That is obvious. And sometimes that is why we feel pain. We also feel pain because of what others do - we see something is wrong with them. But if we are honest, we will realise that in many ways we are just like others. Many times something is wrong with us. God uses pain to give us a strong motivation to fix what is wrong.
If God did not make these problems painful, I think we would be pretty happy to live with them. We would accept destruction and disorder if they had no potential to cause us pain. So the existence of pain itself is a good thing. It provides us with a strong incentive to get things RIGHT, so that the pain can be removed.
God is very interested in things being RIGHT, thats why he allows pain. The Bible says about God that "righteousness" and "justice" are the foundation of His throne. So God is very interested in things being "right". God wants us to have a right relationship with ourselves, with others and most of all with Him. To help us to have that relationship He has communicated with us through the Bible.
The Heart of God
The Bible says in 3 John 2, "Beloved, in regard to all things I pray that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers."
What God wants for us is for things to go well. He doesn't enjoy inflicting pain on people for no reason. The word here translated pray can also be translated "wish" or "desire". It is God's desire that we prosper, that things go well, that we be in health. God is a good God. He loves us and desires good things for us - even as a good father desires good for his children. His basic desire for us is that we be healthy in body, mind and spirit, and even that we enjoy the fulfilment that comes from achieving great things. But even before all that, God wants our love as obedient children. He wants us to have the right attitudes, motivations, desires and thoughts. When we have these, it can truly be said of us that "our souls prosper". When we don't, God will use discipline, even as a father would. Please note the verse again, "I pray that you prosper and be in health, EVEN AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS." If your soul is not prospering - if your thinking is seriously wrong in God's eyes - then He won't be ready to heal you and make your life prosper. In fact, He might even allow a very painful thing in your life in order to get your attention. This he will do whether you are a Christian believer or not.
God said through the prophet Isaiah, "If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword". (Isaiah 1:19, 20). This verse tells us that God will bless those who are willing and obedient to Him - even to the point of giving us the BEST food to eat and the BEST things to enjoy. But it also shows that there are some people who know God well enough that God will even let them be killed if they steadfastly refuse to listen or obey God. Before it gets to this stage however, usually less drastic means are employed by God. In this passage God was dealing with a very stubborn people who already knew His law, and knew what He had d
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