Filtering Through Pain

One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is how to filter my pain through truth instead of filtering truth through my pain.

See, as humans when we’re hurting we often let our pain color our perception of things, people, and actions around us.

We don’t do it on purpose.

It’s that the pain is there and present and in the forefront of our minds so we tend to lead with that and to perceive things from that perspective.

Whether we’ve been disrespected, lied to, betrayed, stolen from, or experienced any other kind of pain, we tend to see others’ actions as potential for that event to be happening again, even when it’s not.

We assume (sometimes without realizing it) that because a person from our past did us wrong this person will, too.

Unfortunately, when we’re expecting and looking for something we tend to see it, whether it’s there or not.

 

God calls us to a higher standard than that.

Instead of filtering our life experiences through our pain, He calls us to filter them through His Word and Truth.

Regardless of how we feel or what we have experienced, we have to put the truth of Scripture first and foremost in our minds and operate according to it and what it says.

 

That can be hard.

It means we have to look at ourselves and consider the possibility we are wrong.

We have to be willing to change our attitude, opinions, and focus.

Instead of looking at others and their shortcomings, we have to look to God and His goodness, grace, mercy, and wisdom..

 

It’s not that we’re wrong for feeling hurt or slighted when real wrongs happen; it’s about what we do with them.

We can either take it personal and let it fester inside us or we can let it go and choose to forgive.

 

It’s especially hard when it’s a friend or loved one.

It’s hard to accept sometimes, but just because someone isn’t doing or acting the way we think they should, it doesn’t mean they aren’t doing their best or all that God has called them to do.

 

When someone does something we don’t agree with or are hurt by, we have a choice to make.

We can be angry they didn’t live up to our expectations or didn’t do what we think they should have or we can forgive them, let it go, and remember love covers a multitude of sins.

God doesn’t call us to be angry, hold a grudge, or punish someone who doesn’t measure up to our standards.

He calls us to love them without judgement and to be at peace with them as much as we are able.

 

Does this mean we have to approve of their actions? No.

Just because we accept that something has happened doesn’t mean we approve of it.

It does mean we realize it happened and accept it for what it is.

 

Does this mean we have to stay close friends? No.

Sometimes God calls us to take a step back from a person.

 

What it does mean is we must be careful to pray for them and ourselves and ask God to speak truth to both of our hearts.

 

We also need to pray and ask God to help us put our eyes back on Him.

Once we do that – once we really focus on Him and not ourselves, our pain, or others – we begin to see things from a different perspective.

We begin to see our situation through the truth of who He is and His love for us.

It is in doing this that we can begin to filter our pain through His truth.

Little by little, or sometimes in big chunks, we submit our pain to Him, trusting He is going to help us sort it.

This takes the power away from the pain and helps us have room to lean more on God’s love and truth.

We begin to see it is God’s truth that is to be the main focus of our thoughts.

Once we do make His truth the focus of our thoughts, when painful things happen we have the Word right there to filter it through.

This changes how we look at and process that pain.

It provides a layer of protection from it.

It enables us to filter the truth of what happened through the truth of God’s word and to exercise His desire for us to be forgiving before the pain has a chance to get a foothold.

 

It won’t always be easy.

There will still be painful events we have to experience and endure.

But, if we will make a point to put God’s truth first in our minds and to filter everything we experience through it, we will feel much less pain and be more at peace with God, others, and ourselves.

 

That’s what it’s really about – looking at life and all the things in it through a lens of Christ’s love and God’s Word, trusting that focusing on His truth will always set us free from the bondage of unforgiveness and unnecessary pain as we trust Him to guide us through our struggles.

 

 

What about you?

Is there pain in your life clouding your judgement and coming between you and fully focusing on God and His truth as you filter your experiences through His Word?

Will you submit it to Him today?

 

 

 

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)

 

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 (NIV)