Hi friends,
Here’s a midweek intermission for those uncomfortable, unwanted, and less desirable places of life – the hard, long, messy, ugly, and downright painful places no human can avoid.
Our world tends to tell us to escape these sides of life – to avoid, dismiss, or ignore them. But God, in an upside-down and counter-culture way, invites us into them. And not just to endure them until the tide turns, but to embrace these pains and learn from them.
Confession: we’re not saying its easy.
Confession: it’s likely you’ll contribute to a spike in Kleenex’s stock price.
But.
The journey into God-opportunities is where you’ll discover growth, renewal, character and resurrection.
So on that note, we invite you today to pause, sit with your pain, and cultivate joy.
P.S. We’re going out on a limb with this one, but we think it’s safe to say this guy is working out some stuff with God. 😉
-With Joy
Pause for Thought
“It is the tooth which is sick, not the ache. The ache, by showing painfully the true condition of the tooth, is a protest against it and thus a drive towards health.”
The Joy of God, by H.A. Williams
Pause for Practice
We all carry buried grief, loss, or unresolved hurts. But by acknowledging this pain, and by willingly bringing it out into the light, God’s healing and redemptive presence can begin to do its work.
The following practice is called The Examen, and will be helpful in guiding you towards the internal work of examining the pain.
- Invite God’s presence – Find a comfortable place and sink into a few quiet moments of reflection. Ask for help to consider an unhelpful pain in your life and to see it with truth and transparency. Note what surfaces.
- Give thanks for the gifts – Review your pain with a sense of gratitude and name some gifts this pain offers you and invites you into.
- Pray about the specifics – Spend a few moments praying about what surfaced during your first few steps of examination. Pick one thing to ask God to give you clarity on.
- Practice forgiveness – Thank God for the grace of awareness that emerged during this time. Ask for forgiveness for the things that surfaced that you may not be proud of.
- Look to tomorrow – Invite God to be part of your future feelings and experiences, asking for the grace, courage, confidence, wisdom and peace you’ll need.
Pause for Examination
Consider a present unwanted situation or circumstance that, despite the pain it brings to your life, is also bringing a valuable life lesson, or is a blessing in disguise.
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If you would like to share this issue of PAUSE – via text, social media, or email – just copy and paste this link: https://joyover.com/pause/april-26-2023
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Click here for previous month’s art offerings
P.S.S. Remember, no matter what level of discomfort you may be currently experiencing in life, it could always be worse. If you know, you know. 😉
