Is There A Purpose for My Pain?

Remember that first wind we talked about on day two? The one we discovered would never be enough to pull us through?

As we conclude our time together today, we are looking to our second wind, the Holy Spirit, to encourage, convict, guide, and empower us throughout our lives.

In our pain, the enemy wants nothing more than for us to run from God. 

If we only knew that God has good plans for us but never worked out a theological framework of truth, it would make sense that we would run at the first sign of trouble.

Don’t run. Anchor down. 

Like Paul in prison, you can decide to shine the light of Jesus and be a fragrance of Him to the world around you, even in chains.

When your first wind fails you. 

When you have given it all you got. 

When you can’t see the outcome. 

When you’re doubled over and breathing deep.

You can trust God for a second wind through the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to be with us and to take us where we could never go on our own. The Holy Spirit is our helper, filling our lungs with faith when it seems like we can’t take another breath. 

There is hope for our deepest pains. There is a plan for the disappointments we can’t shake, for the circumstances we never saw coming.

Even in our suffering, even in our brokenness, we can ask God for us to have our eyes open to see how this is all for the glory of God. We can see ourselves sent out as ambassadors on mission, arrows shot out into a world full of places like Anathoth where we need to shine the light of Jesus brightly. 

Your pain, surrendered to God, and through the second wind of the Holy Spirit has a purpose greater than you could ever imagine.