My Gift of Pain

What a beautiful season we are in as we embrace this Holiday! It’s a time to cherish those around us for whom we care the most and to recognize all we have to be thankful for. It’s a time to be refreshed as we surround ourselves with loved ones and reflect on the birth of our Savior.

Then there’s the hunt for the perfect gift to show those we love that we know them – their likes and desires. Christmas traditions and gatherings with friends and family fill our days.

But for many of us, holidays can also stir places of sorrow and loneliness.

Sorrows in the Season…

For those of us who may have lost loved ones or have never experienced a Christmas with loving family, it can trigger traumas from the past and we can find ourselves emotionally distressed. In addition, the absence of a loved one’s presence or a dream that has never come to pass can sink in heavier during this time. Memories of a Christmas past flood our minds and we long for just one more holiday with those we love most. The regret, trauma, or loss can make it agonizing to walk through the holidays. 

Be Encouraged…

Let us all be encouraged that we serve a God who sees all of it!

          Psalm 56:8 “You keep track of all my    sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Our tears are never wasted.” 

As someone who has walked through painful moments, as most all of us have experienced, I cling to His truth knowing that Father has a plan and intent for every “place” and moment in times of disappointment. 

The Gift…

As I closed my eyes one morning, the Lord began to bring some places of deep sorrow I had forgotten about. I began to pour out to Jesus through tears and words. I saw myself in Heaven with Him and my life was wrapped in a large red box with a beautiful golden bow tied at the top. Every moment was wrapped in a gift for Papa. Jesus, with His warm loving eyes, looked into mine as He stretched out His hands to receive my gift. But what would Jesus want with a gift of pain, regret, and shame? How could this be my offering to Him today? His smile was radiant, His eyes were glowing and the colors of my gift were reflecting off of His face. I could feel His joy as if He’d been waiting for this exact moment when I gave Him my story; when I gave Him all of me. 

He untied the ribbon, carefully cherishing every moment as my life began to pour out before Him. He grabbed me swiftly and firmly as He placed His hands around my neck and laid my head on His shoulders. He brought a presence of hope as if He already knew what to do with every part of my life, past, present, and future.  All He had been waiting for was for me to trust Him with all of it. 

The Exchange…

In exchange, Jesus gave me a pair of golden keys. They were keys for opening doors to each place of struggle I had endured. He brought freedom and new meaning to these “places” that I would now have the ability to walk through with Kingdom Posture and be able to bring others through as well. 

Friends, our suffering is never in vain! 

We serve a loving Father who takes all of our struggles and in return gives us entry to His kingdom. We have been given free reign through Jesus to enter into places we would never have imagined we could go if it wasn’t for the struggle that pushes us to press into His heart.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.“

From My Heart to Yours❤️

This Christmas I encourage all of you to take time, reflect, and ask Jesus what you can hand over to Him today and receive your Great Exchange! Be refreshed and renewed in His love for you, knowing every tear has been seen and you are deeply loved and known.

Merry Christmas friends! He truly is the reason for the season. 

Erika