"Where Does My Pain Come From?"

  Have you ever thought about your situation in life? Think about the things you might be going through and finding disappointment or heartache ask yourself, "Is this something from the Lord or did I cause it?" That's an honest question. Sometimes we think the Lord has brought something upon us and we struggle through it only to find out we caused it not the Lord.

  People ask why is it every time they turn around they run into another wall? Too many times we make our difficulties because of our choices. It's like getting on a wrong bus and expecting to arrive in the right place. Too many times we have an attitude or 'secretly' go about things and when things don't work out in our lives we wonder why. It's like the old saying, "You can't play with fire and not expect to get burned." One can't indulge in gossip and expect to have close friends who trust you. Yet we sense that people avoid us. That's not God's doings. You can't make endless demands on family or friends and not expect them to drift away from you and not be there to help when you feel you are in need. You can't be sneaking around doing things, always seeming suspicious and gain respect and confidence from your mate or friends. You can't exaggerate stories or situations and find loyalty and trust from those around you. A chronic complainer finds their lives very lonely. A sharped tongue individual finds people attacking and they think they suffer for the Lord. These are the type of things, and there are many more like them, that bring our own pain into our own lives.

  Maybe we need to re-evaluate our lives and find out that when we speak of walking with the Lord, we are walking with the Lord. When suffering comes into our lives we aren't the ones causing it which pushes us deeper into ourselves. The Lord wants us to share in His life, His holiness and sometimes He let's us go after our own personal desires until we wake up and realize that our lives are the cause of our own misery. Only then will we find a reason to submit to the Lord with all our heart and we will find rest for our souls.