Today I had really really really bad stomach pain. No matter how much I passed gas, I couldn't get rid of enough to relieve the pain. I was literally bent over on the floor rocking back and forth. I can only thankful right now that it now just hurts.
So, why am I talking about this? It's because of some of the thoughts I had.
While I hurt a lot, I remembered that the pain Jesus felt when he died for my sins was many many times worse. Not only was he physically tortured in ways that I can't even really imagine, but he was subjected to the pain of my sins.
Now, while the pain Jesus was subjected to is something we Christians do need to spend some time contemplating, it isn't the main thought I had.
The main thought I had is this: Jesus suffered that horrific pain willingly precisely because he did not want me to suffer that pain.
If you spend some time contemplating that thought, you may come to wonder why Jesus allows us to suffer pain when he suffered to spare us that. I wondered that today. I was begging God to just end the stomach pain. What you have to remember is the Jesus does not just fit in whatever box we want to put him in. When bad things (pain) happen to Christians, there really are a couple things that could be going on. First is that there is something interfering between you and God. Sin, doubt, not walking the path you are supposed, etc. Second, is that God can see far beyond the pain we may be in. Because he can see that, he may know that it would be bad for you if he removed the pain right then. Today, perhaps, God wanted me to write this post. I would not be writing this post if he had just taken the pain away. Basically, just trust that God knows what he is doing. 'Cause he does!
A final thought. I have heard people say that God made them sick, or God made something bad happen to them to teach them a lesson of some kind. This is false! It might even be sinful! Anything that is from God is good. If you are saved, do not blame God when something bad happens to you. Even when the cause is sin. God's word is very clear, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The judgment that God has passed has always been on those that are not in him. When bad things happen to us, it is always because of our own sin, someone else's sin, or an attack from Satan. Remember that!
"Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." Romans 8:1-2. Holman Christian Standard Bible.