When God wants you to grow, He makes you uncomfortable!
Sometimes, God takes us through seasons that make us so uncomfortable and uneasy where there seems to be no peace or rest. Why? As humans, we are creatures of habit and enjoy comfort and desire an easy life. However, if everything were easy, then we would see no need for a change nor desire it. If life were comfortable, then we wouldn't desire God's goodness and more of Him! Pain is often God's protection; He allows us to become so uneasy in our hearts and spirit that we not only see the need for a change, but we surrender completely to Him and we desire a change. God doesn't force us to change; that wouldn't be love or walking in faith. However, when we see a need for change, He gives us His desire to surrender to change.
The Christian walk isn't easy and the bible says that God doesn't afflict His children willingly (Lamentations 3:33). However, just like in the book and story of Job, we can learn that God uses the most illogical and uncomfortable devices to change us because He knows that in our desire for comfort, we would never change nor desire to change.
God isn't punishing you, He is preparing you. Trust His plans and not your pain!
I recently went through a major change in my life and God took me through such discomfort and pain! I was committed to have faith and to be patient in waiting on the Lord and though I saw that there had to be a change, I didn't desire the change that the Lord knew I needed to surrender to. Without that discomfort and lack of peace and joy, I wouldn't have recognized the dangers and further potential hurt! Because I was determined and set in faithfulness and to be in it for the long haul, God used that pain to protect me from a lifetime of hurt! Jesus said in Matthew five if one of your members tempts you to sin, remove it and cast it from you! No one desires to go through pain and to burn bridges; yet, God doesn't leave us in that discomfort! No, because of our surrender, obedience and courage to take that stand and to cast it off, though hard, He rewards with something brand new! If our eye tempts us to sin, then He won't leave us blind, but will give us new eyes in order to see circumstances from His perspective!
Do I have courage to do what God called me to do?
God called me to burn a bridge: a relationship that brought much hurt, constant questioning, stress and even emotional bankruptcy in my life. However, without the Lord making me so uncomfortable in my heart from the relationship and things that I noticed, I
wouldn't have desired and longed for a change. I knew that there had to be a change, but I didn't desire what God was asking me to do. I was very unhappy, but I desired to remain faithful and committed, and to not be guided by my emotions or feelings. However, God created such a discomfort in me to desire that change and to also grow more intimate in my relationship with Him that I knew there had to be a change. He gave me strength and courage, and I removed that member from my body and cast it off. It was hard, but the revelation is that sometimes to hang on to something is so much more painful than to let go. God is so faithful; He didn't leave me blind and to question why I went through such pain. He gave me new eyes to see from His perspective and to see that the pain and discomfort was and is preparation for me to receive His best! He didn't leave me to question the pain and His plan, but in my heart's surrender and the courage to cast off that which harmed me, He allowed me to join Him in what He is doing and has for me!
To burn a bridge is never easy, but it is more courageous to end and sacrifice something that you love and desire in order to make room for the best that God has in store. It is easy to get discouraged and to look at situations from man's perspective, but in a relationship with God, He desires not only for us to change, but also to join Him in seeing the purpose for the change.
One reason why people resist to change is because they focus on what they have to lose rather than on what they have to gain!
One final analogy is the process of pruning a tree. A tree that has been pruned is hardly ever flattering and sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest. It looks like a shrub and often looks unnecessary. However, pruning is to cut back in order for the tree to grow bigger, to bear more fruit and make more shade. God creates such discomfort in us so that we desire that change. Though it is painful and seems to have no purpose, it is to grow us in order that we can bear more fruit!
"God prunes us when He is about to take us into a new season of growth and expansion." -- Christine Caine
The truth and God's revelation never hurts more than the constant pressuring of unanswered questions and mistrust. If God is taking you through a pruning season or one of total discomfort and pain, and you see no purpose in it, then set yourself apart and press into Jesus! Lay it on the alter before Him and ask if you are to cast it off. Surrender is never for our pain; it is to reveal more of who He is and what He can do.
There are two ways that you can allow pain to change you. It can make you overthink, focus on the past and shut people out. Or it can make you stronger, wiser, more hopeful of the future and be used to help others!
Why be a prisoner of your past and its pain, when God wants us to join Him in the revelation of His protection and its purpose to prepare us for His best!
There will be days of discouragement, loneliness and glum, but in those moments, when
the enemy wants you to focus on the pain and betrayal of love, God wants you to grow more intimately in love with Him!
Be encouraged! If you could love the wrong one so much, then how much more do you think God is using this time to prepare you to lavish your unrestrained love and affection for the right one? You don't think that God anticipates and isn't excited to give that to you? Find joy and excitement in knowing that God desires ever more for you what you want and need. Trust in Him because He is the only One who saw you then, sees you now and sees you both together later.
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has known what God has prepared for those who love Him." -- 1 Corinthians 2:9
