Yesterday, my sister told me, “It’s really painful to be alive.”
She was speaking collectively, about humanity, and the week that we’ve all had, and also about things that have happened in the lives of some of our dear friends—and she said it so matter-of-factly that it stopped me in my tracks. And I said, yeah. It is. That’s not how it was supposed to be.
It’s so true that life is painful. I don’t think anyone would disagree.
And it was so not supposed to be that way, in the beginning of things. How do I know that (besides by reading Genesis)? Because of how wrong pain feels. How we can’t seem to avoid trying to avoid it, even when we know it’s unavoidable.
If we were to stop there, things would seem really hopeless, wouldn’t they? I don’t blame people at all for despairing, if they believe that pain is the end of every human story.
But if you stop there, you’re cheating yourself.
I’m a human too. I’ve felt pain and I’ve caused it. I’ve been so lost I never thought I could be found. I’ve wondered if any of this is worth it.
And every time I come back to this, the answer is yes–it’s always been worth it. The growth is worth it. The trust I’ve been able to find in God, the simple joy of following Him, is worth it.
What a blessing it is to feel pain, to feel loss, to miss things and people and places. Just imagine. If you felt none of those things, you would never have felt anything. You wouldn’t be you, here, now.
You wouldn’t have this chance to see.
Because what do humans do when they feel pain? They look for answers. Answers that are, incidentally, kind of hard to find–mostly because they’re answers to questions that are kind of hard to ask:
Why do we feel pain? What is the purpose of all these things? Is there something out there that’s bigger than all of this? What am I meant to do?
Am I seen, heard, loved?
These are the questions we’re meant to ask–because the answers ARE out there. I’m not saying we can know everything, but we can know the things that matter, if we’re willing to ask. God wants to see you grow through the pain and discomfort of seeking truth, and you will never regret asking him humbly to reveal it to you. Because this hope is worth chasing.
Wanderer, this is a message to you: You are meant to find your answers, and if you’re lost, you don’t have to go far to be found.
“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” -John 14:5-6
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