by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Holding on to the Promise

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“And to Adam God said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “you shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.'”
Genesis 3:17-18 English Standard Version

I recently had oral surgery and was once again reminded that pain is real and that when we’re in the midst of pain we wonder if it will last forever.

Pain is a reality because we live in world that is separated from God. That’s what Adam discovered when he digested the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His response was to hide from God because something had changed in his relationship with his Maker. That relationship wasn’t the same anymore. He experienced the pain of separation, his disengagement from walking intimately with God.

Now that we are separated from God, the ugly reality for humans is that even what God intended for good, is filled with pain. Our relationships are painful. Our work is painful. Even our fun is painful.

Will pain last forever?

Pain is our reality this side of the grave, but standing between this side of eternity and the other side is the pain of Jesus’ cross. He endured all the weight of our pain, forgiving us for that which separated us from God, and has promised that pain will not last forever. We have the promise of always being in the presence of the Father, no longer separated from him. In that day, we won’t even remember that there was such a thing as pain and suffering.

In the midst of your pain, may you find joy and peace in this promise.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado