I Am Not My Pain
For the last couple of years, I’ve been on a waiting list for an operation on a herniated/slipped disc in my spine. Given how long I’ve been waiting, my doctor asked me to have a new MRI scan taken in order to ascertain whether or not the surgery was still necessary. Instead, the results found that a second, more serious, slipped disc had developed alongside the first and one which is—at least here in the UK—likely to be inoperable.
If my life was a song, pain would be the chorus, with appearances from affliction, loss, and suffering in the verses and the bridge. It’s hard sometimes when I see others hearing the song of my life, listening to my story, witnessing my physical struggles right now in the present, not to believe the lie that I am nothing more than my pain.
A few years ago I was discipling a young man in the church when he expressed that he felt powerless to affect change in his own life. I encouraged him to walk down to the sea nearby—at the height of Autumn—and command the sea to be still. It wasn’t an empty illustration, I asked him to do it and he did. He knew it wouldn’t work, he implored the sea to stop moving, and the rain to cease, but lo and behold it roared back unaware of his presence. Though we know he could not change the nature of the world, often we try to change the nature of our circumstances, hearts, and minds all on our own, without stopping to see that the waves of our life are crashing down around us, unchanging, and oblivious to our existence.
Our lives are not ours to control. Likewise, our identity is not found in the shifting shapes of the waves of our lives. Though we are called to live for Christ, even die for him, we must never place anything, any tendency, temptation, or trial above God in how we view ourselves. Seen in the light of his grace, more can be done with our pain, our mess, our writing, our sin, our shame, or our song. Your song, like mine, might sound like a Psalm, full of lament and sorrow, but don’t forget that while the Psalmists often bring their hopelessness to God, they remind us in the height of the storm:
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.The Holy Bible: English Standard Version Psalm 42:7–8.
I am not my pain, because I am not my own.
I belong to the great I AM.
Each of this week’s articles reminds us not to dig into ourselves for an answer to our struggles, but to look to God and to the wider church he has blessed us with.
Grace and Peace,
Adsum Try Ravenhill is married to Anna and together they are passionate about seeing young men and women discipled within the context of the local church. You can find Adsum through his writing at The Raven’s Writing Desk and alongside Anna as the co-host of the Consider the Ravens Podcast, you can also find Adsum’s articles for GCD here.
Articles of the Week
It Takes a Village To Be A Writer
— by Lara D’entremont
If you’re anything like me, you’ve longed for a mentorship with an older writer in which you sit across from one another in a library or coffee shop to have your work critiqued and be encouraged. Someone to bring your every question of publishing, rejection, skill, and habit. Yet, perhaps also like me, you have yet to find this kind of perfect relationship.
Patiently Waiting as God’s Grace Transforms Us
— by Chrys Jones
As Christians, we know the power of grace. Some of us were living our everyday lives when the wind of the Spirit blew on our hearts and the gentle breeze awakened us to new life. Others were on a hellbent path of destruction when the hurricane force gales of God’s Spirit swept them away into a sea of glory. Many were swimming upstream in a sea of adversity when they felt the wind at their backs to carry them through the trial. However we were saved, we all can testify to the mysterious and powerful outworking of grace.
Getting Organized for The Glory of God
— by Regan Rose
Most people think the key to fighting distraction is willpower. We think if we just grit our teeth and muster up some stoic self-discipline, then we can block out the noise. The better path to focus, however, is to not allow yourself to be distracted in the first place. How do you do that? You get organized.
2 for 1 - The Unwavering Pastor
As many of you will know, Jonathan Dodson—who wrote the book Gospel Centered Discipleship after which our organisation was named—recently released a new book called the Unwavering Pastor. In celebration of Pastoral Appreciation Month, the Good Book Company have a live offer to receive two copies of the book for the price of one.
Often I find that when I read a newsletter recommending a book I wonder whether the writer behind the screen actually knows what they are recommending, so for those of you who are as sceptical as I am, let me assure you that I1 have read, enjoyed, and personally recommended Jonathan’s book and will continue to do so not only for Pastors but also for Church Members. Why not then buy a book, give a copy to encourage your own pastor, and then keep the other to learn how to love your pastor better?
You can find the offer at the links below:
Adsum