I winced as each new needle pressed into my skin.
“Try to relax. We have your best interest in mind,” my physical therapist said, sticking me again. He used a technique called dry needling that was meant to bring relief and healing to my injured hip muscles.
A few weeks before, I’d been living my dream, hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail. Debilitating hip pain left me with little choice but to pause my trip indefinitely to recover. This derailment of my dream caused me to fear and question God’s care for me. Why would He let this happen?
So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you. This verse reminds us that though we may not understand the reason for our suffering, we can rest in the assurance that God will not leave us alone in our hardships.
I don’t understand all the techniques the physical therapist uses. I find them uncomfortable and painful, but trust he is good at his job and uses the uncomfortable procedures to heal me. Similarly, God allows suffering, using it to refine us and make us spiritually healthy. When His methods don’t make sense, we can choose to trust Him, remembering He’s our Creator and will not fail us.
Looking to the cross, we find a Savior who chose suffering for Himself in order to heal generations of hurting people. Fixing our gaze on a God like this will keep us from doubting His love and care when we find ourselves in the midst of affliction.
The next time you struggle through a difficult season, instead of wondering why you are suffering, stand in wonder of the Creator who cares for you and is faithful to strengthen you through every trial.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Jori Edgington recently graduated from North Greenville University where she studied writing and communication. She joyously endured hiking 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail until injury forced her to learn to trust God’s faithfulness in a new way. She’s anxiously awaiting the day she can return to the trail. In the meantime, she’s filling her days with brewing kombucha, eating vegetables, and attending endless physical therapy appointments. You can keep up with her adventures on www.theheartofhiking.wordpress.com.