God Never Wastes A Hurt

His Word: O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He (God) will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.  Isaiah 30:19 NLT

Observance and Obedience: Have you ever felt like your tears will never end; that no one hears your deepest cries? Here’s another promise from God that you can apply personally to your life. When we ask for his help, he will hear and respond! What it doesn’t say is that he will respond the way we have in mind. 

As much as we may feel we deserve a carefree life absent of conflict, verse 20a reminds us that: the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink. Adversity and suffering is a part of everyone’s life. Like food and water, it’s what makes us grow spiritually, what strengthens our faith and prepares us for God’s purposes.

Although God allows adversity and suffering, he has also promised to be with us, teach us and guide us during hard times. He will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes (v.20b). When we are hurting and struggling, we may not always want to learn. Sometimes we just want the pain and tears to stop. 

But it’s assuring to know that God never wastes a hurt and never misses an opportunity to teach us something we need to learn in order to live a more productive and purposeful life. Everything he allows to happen in our lives is for a reason; whether we understand it or not, he does and only he knows how it’s going to benefit us. 

So we have a choice: we can view adversity as a learning tool; knowing that it is from God and for our good OR we can view it as a punishment from an unloving God who only wants to make our lives miserable. Does this sound extreme? Perhaps, but we all know people who view suffering as something a loving God would never allow. 

God expects a lot from us, and many times following him can be painful; but he always acts out of his love for us.  And because of his love, he promises to be gracious when we ask for help. He promises to respond to the sound of our cries. He promises to be with us in good times and bad and he promises to teach us in order to strengthen us. 

When we choose to see adversity as a learning tool, we can count on another promise found in this passage: Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (v. 21). God always has our back and is always willing to guide us; we just have to be willing to listen and obey. 

The next time you go through a difficult time, try to appreciate the experience and grow from it, learning what God wants to teach you and listening to where he wants to lead you. He may be showing you his love by patiently walking with you through adversity.  Don’t let yourself bury and forget the trials in your life but use them as reminders of God’s promises and purposes. 

Prayer: Think back to a time when suffering was part of your daily life. What did you learn about God? What did God teach you about yourself? How are you using what you learned to help others who may be going through a similar struggle? Thank him for what you learned and how it strengthened your faith, and then put it to good use!

Encouragement: God’s plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day.  Louie Giglio