Thorns & Butterflies
Posted in Nick's Posts, Why does God allow pain? 2 comments
When I was in college, I went through a difficult time of depression. There was no real reason for it; it was just there. I remember pleading with God on several occasions to please, please stop the pain. It turned into a pivotal moment of questioning my faith (which is okay to do btw). After all, how could a loving God allow me to have pain? Eventually (and long after I would have liked), the answers came. It was very much a “sieve moment” like Jerrod was talking about yesterday. God truly opened my eyes to the question of pain in a way that never would have occurred if I didn’t go through that difficult time. I’ve since written a 5-page Word document to explain the revelations I had during that time. What follows is a seriously condensed version.
Imagine this scenario. A dog that has stepped on a thorn and gotten it stuck in his paw. It is very painful for him, so he goes to his master for help. His master knows that the thorn needs to come out, but he also knows that pulling it out will hurt the dog very much. The dog, who does not think like humans, only knows that the thorn hurts and offers up his paw for his master to fix it. The master pulls it out quickly. The dog yelps in pain and runs away from his master. In the dog’s mind, the master has just caused him great pain, and so he must be bad.
Or another scenario. Consider the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The caterpillar gathers resources and stores fat in preparation for his transformation. When he is ready, he builds a cocoon. Amazing things happen over the next several days. However, at the end of this time, the cocoon becomes very tight. It won’t budge. The butterfly is in pain. If you could hear its thoughts, it would be screaming, “Help me! Help me!” Hearing this, you might be tempted to help the butterfly by quickly opening the cocoon for him. However, if you do that, the butterfly will probably never be able to fly. The actual struggle of emerging from the cocoon forces the butterfly through a process that is necessary to enable it to fly. “Helping” the butterfly may be condemning it to sit on your windowsill to watch all the other butterflies soar through the air.
Both of these analogies have lessons that we can learn from. In comparison to God, we are like dogs or caterpillars. Despite how smart or wise we might think we are, we know nothing compared to God. Just like it says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
There are SO many instances of pain that we don’t understand. We just look at it and know that it sucks. But as Christians, we need to look at everything a different way. We need to look at it with eternity on our minds. For myself, that 3-4 years of depression really sucked, but I would not be nearly the man I am today without having gone through it.
Now, remember I said that I pleaded with God to end my pain? From my perspective, here is what happened. I was in pain, I prayed, God heard, God waited, God delivered, I praised God (for what He accomplished through the pain). Now, remember that God is an infinite being. He hears all prayers and all praises at all times. That means that God was allowing me to continue through depression at the same time that He was listening to both my pleading that He end it and my praise that He allowed it to continue.
This is why NOW when I pray, I do my best to pray like Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (underline added)
When Jesus prayed this, he knew that he would soon be betrayed and crucified and he would take all of the sin of the world upon himself. How petty do our own concerns seem next to this? And yet still, in his prayer, he let God know his desire, but made it very clear that God’s desire was most important.
I’ve already gone longer than I meant to, so let me end by urging you to take a look at the lyrics to a couple of my favorite songs that deal with this issue:
Blessings by Laura Story
Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns
Oh yeah! Do you have a time when you had to go through a season of pain and later saw how God had worked through that season? I LOVE hearing stories like that, so please share it with me in the comments. Thanks!
Imagine this scenario. A dog that has stepped on a thorn and gotten it stuck in his paw. It is very painful for him, so he goes to his master for help. His master knows that the thorn needs to come out, but he also knows that pulling it out will hurt the dog very much. The dog, who does not think like humans, only knows that the thorn hurts and offers up his paw for his master to fix it. The master pulls it out quickly. The dog yelps in pain and runs away from his master. In the dog’s mind, the master has just caused him great pain, and so he must be bad.
Or another scenario. Consider the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The caterpillar gathers resources and stores fat in preparation for his transformation. When he is ready, he builds a cocoon. Amazing things happen over the next several days. However, at the end of this time, the cocoon becomes very tight. It won’t budge. The butterfly is in pain. If you could hear its thoughts, it would be screaming, “Help me! Help me!” Hearing this, you might be tempted to help the butterfly by quickly opening the cocoon for him. However, if you do that, the butterfly will probably never be able to fly. The actual struggle of emerging from the cocoon forces the butterfly through a process that is necessary to enable it to fly. “Helping” the butterfly may be condemning it to sit on your windowsill to watch all the other butterflies soar through the air.
Both of these analogies have lessons that we can learn from. In comparison to God, we are like dogs or caterpillars. Despite how smart or wise we might think we are, we know nothing compared to God. Just like it says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
There are SO many instances of pain that we don’t understand. We just look at it and know that it sucks. But as Christians, we need to look at everything a different way. We need to look at it with eternity on our minds. For myself, that 3-4 years of depression really sucked, but I would not be nearly the man I am today without having gone through it.
Now, remember I said that I pleaded with God to end my pain? From my perspective, here is what happened. I was in pain, I prayed, God heard, God waited, God delivered, I praised God (for what He accomplished through the pain). Now, remember that God is an infinite being. He hears all prayers and all praises at all times. That means that God was allowing me to continue through depression at the same time that He was listening to both my pleading that He end it and my praise that He allowed it to continue.
This is why NOW when I pray, I do my best to pray like Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (underline added)
When Jesus prayed this, he knew that he would soon be betrayed and crucified and he would take all of the sin of the world upon himself. How petty do our own concerns seem next to this? And yet still, in his prayer, he let God know his desire, but made it very clear that God’s desire was most important.
I’ve already gone longer than I meant to, so let me end by urging you to take a look at the lyrics to a couple of my favorite songs that deal with this issue:
Blessings by Laura Story
Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns
Oh yeah! Do you have a time when you had to go through a season of pain and later saw how God had worked through that season? I LOVE hearing stories like that, so please share it with me in the comments. Thanks!
2 comments:
Nick! I don't know how I missed this post. I have struggled with depression since I was around 13. I have made countless stupid choices through that pain, but the pain made me Hannah. I am so glad to hear your story and so glad your story ends with praise to out loving Father. Thank you for sharing your battle.
Wow, I had no idea that you struggle with depression. I've had the opportunity to share this story with several people on different occassions and it never ceases to amaze me how many people are affected by depression. Praise God that He is able to work in ways beyond our understanding through the pain. As you said, it made you Hannah, and mine made me Nick.
Post a Comment