HAND IT OVER                                                   Romans 8:1-17

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (v5)

On reflection on pain, the experience of pain always causes us to make a choice. The choice is whether we will try to handle it ourselves or turn it over to God. So often when we are confronted with some difficulty in life our fallen sinful natures try to persuade us that we can handle it on our own without having to bring it to God. The sooner we come to the conclusion that life is not all about us, the better we will be. God wants His purposes to be worked out in our souls, but so often we are deaf to His advances.

Attempting to handle things on our own is the way of our fallen nature. In order to stop walking according to the sinful nature and start walking in the spirit of God, we learn to listen to what our pain is telling us and learn to listen to what our pain is telling us and let Him lead us along the path of life. What I find so sad about the lives of many Christians is that within them lie great pools of pain, which they never think of offering up to God so that He can guide the pain to some redemptive purpose. The verse, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7) is probably the most overloaded text in the world of God. What pain might you be holding onto that you have unwilling to hand over to God? Don’t keep your pain to yourself and experience purposeless suffering when God can use the pain to turn you to Himself and give you a spiritual revelation that will result in you becoming a better person and enable you to walk along the road that leads to life.

PRAYER LINE: Father, I release my pain into Your hands now for You to turn it into something redemptive. Thank You, Father. Amen. (EDWJ)

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Ask and it will be given to you.