Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Though this post doesn’t have much to do with Independance Day (I’m not that good at thinking ahead), this post wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging that I couldn’t be more blessed to live in the home of the brave.
Last Thursday, I had surgery to remove my wisdom teeth. I have friends who’ve also undergone this procedure, so I knew it was not going to be pleasant. However, nothing could have prepared me for how rotten I was going to feel for days afterward. I was confined to the living room couch, dizzy and nauseous by turns, always with the pounding ache in the back of my jaw that would not go away. I read a lot, slept a good deal, and watched movies (including Anne of Green Gables– she was nice and distracting). I enjoyed the leisure time for a little while, but soon all of the sleepless nights and groggy mornings were taking their toll. I wrote in my journal one night, “I’m tired of being in pain.”
All of my misery reminded me of some Scriptures I’ve recently read. Firstly, 1 Peter 4:13, which says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” As I lay in bed at 12:45 PM and tears of pain leaked out of my eyes, I was sharing in the sufferings of Christ. And I choked down a smoothie from a spoon because I couldn’t use a straw, I was sharing in the sufferings of Christ. As I kept an ice pack pressed against the side of my face for hours and hours, I was sharing in the sufferings of Christ. I was feeling the impacts of a broken world, just as He did.
Except that His sufferings were so very much bigger. He was perfect. I am not. He knew what life was like without sin (I do not), and yet He made the conscious decision to live a life where He would be surrounded and threatened by it at every breath. He allowed Himself to die a torturous death of absolute agony. All so that we might have Him as a companion through our sufferings.
The second verse I was reminded of is Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” I love that verse. Read it again. Let it simmer in your brain for a couple of seconds.
In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis talks about this concept. He explains that in heaven, our sufferings on earth will somehow work backwards to make heaven more beautiful. We’ll be glad we went through them and give God more glory because of them. For some people, that might be difficult to understand. But for me, it was a relief. It makes me long for Home, because I know this week of miserable pain will become a memory that causes heaven to be more wonderful for its lack of pain.
One day, I will dwell in a place where pain does not exist. My jaw will never ache again. I won’t shed a tear because it feels like there are little gnomes living inside my head and pounding it with their little hammers. And all the other times when my body hurts, when my back is sore or my muscles cramp, they will not exist either. There will be no more pain.
I long for the day. When that Home comes true and swallows up this one. When the great Doctor suddenly appears, touches me, and heals me of all my infirmities.
Thanks to all of the creative, wonderful writers who submitted guest posts! I have been blown away by your ideas and your creativity. The agenda for the summer is now full!
Image credits: WallpaperCave
Thank you Ella Rose! I needed to hear/read that! π€
Aww, I’m so glad! You’re very welcome. π€π
What a beautiful message, Ella Rose! So many good points. It’s so amazing that even our suffering can lead us closer to Christ. π
Thank you! And amen.