Purpose In Pain

Dear Friend, I seldom read FW's when people email them to me, but this one was short and very moving. Have a read. It is based on Isaiah 55:8 "(I don't think the way you think.)"

Turn Your Pain Into Purpose

You can tell how strong you are by what it takes to discourage you! Sometimes our discouragement has nothing to do with what God does or doesn't do, and everything to do with our mistaken assumptions of how we think things should turn out. When we try to second-guess God we're usually wrong because He says, "I don't think the way you think." God always has a plan - and His timing is perfect! Henri Durant, a wealthy 19th Century Swiss banker, was sent to Paris by
his government to work on a business deal with Napoleon. But when he arrived he discovered that Napoleon was off fighting a war. So he went to the battlefront to find him. Once there, Durant watched in horror as cannonballs ripped open human flesh. Maimed and dying men lay all around
him. He was so devastated by what he saw that he stayed at the front for weeks, helping doctors tend to the wounded. Even after returning home Durant was haunted by those images of war. He couldn't keep his mind on banking and became so distracted that he lost his fortune. But even with
his career in ruins, he had an unmistakable sense of God's leadings in all that had happened. Later he wrote, "It seemed to me that I had something to accomplish, a sacred duty that was destined to have infinite consequence for mankind." And he was right. Out of his pain came purpose, and Henri Durant founded The Red Cross. For establishing it, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize. So, look for the purpose in your pain!

Questions or Comments

Back to Main Page