The Weekly Word: His plan in your pain

By Robert Williams, Lead Pastor at The Bridge Church

What’s your biggest regret? When was your toughest season of life? Maybe you’re in one right now. Can I encourage you? God can use this time more than any other time in your life, to grow you.

I know that this is easy for me to say right now because I’m not in my toughest season of life. Or at least, I don’t think I am. I would be willing to bet, though, that as you look back on your toughest moments you can also see some of your biggest moments of growth. I know that’s the case for me.

This probably shows the most in my marriage. My wife and I didn’t exactly have the easiest start to marriage. While many seem to have that first honeymoon year, ours was… well… a lot like Hell.

My wife and I got married at the young, ripe age of 19. When we first got married, we thought we were so much alike. We both liked the same music. We both like the color blue. We both liked each other. All foundations that life-long marriages are built on… (ha ha).

But then, not long after the wedding day, things got rough. There were times where we felt like we couldn’t disagree on more. We brought a ton of baggage and insecurity into our marriage. She struggled to trust. I struggled to display trustworthy traits. Maybe rough is an understatement.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were days where I questioned God.

“Lord, we both love you. We both want to honor you and one another. Why is this so hard?!”

Unfortunately, a lot of marriages end because things get hard like this. And when we make the decision to call it quits, we miss out, big time. Because I believe that sometimes God sends us into difficult times, difficult situations, and difficult circumstances to do something IN us.

One of the most popular and quoted verses in the Bible comes from Jeremiah 29:11. Maybe you’ve heard it: “For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a hope and a future.” We love to quote this verse for inspiration, but do you know the context of that verse?

In this passage, Israel had just been exiled to Babylon. They’ve been taken captive and been put into slavery. And God says over and over throughout Jeremiah that He put them there! Doesn’t that seem crazy?!

I think it all comes back to discipline and growth. God puts us in these tough situations to grow our character and our faith. To transform us into something new. To draw our attention to the eternal over the temporary.

My wife and I are about to celebrate our 17th anniversary on Aug. 18th. And as tough as year one was, I’m not even sure it was our hardest up to this point.

But God has rewarded us as He’s grown and disciplined us through one another. We’ve learned to love deeper, forgive faster, be more gracious and understanding with one another, complement one another.

Are you in a hard season right now? Instead of getting angry at God, like we’ve all been guilty of in the past, what if you, instead, chose to trust? What if you, instead, chose to lean into Him? What if He was about to do His greatest work in you?

I truly believe that He has an incredible plan for your future. You may not see it now, but He does. It just might require some difficulty and pain to get there. I pray you are able to trust Him through it all, the good and the bad.