Today's Devotional

September 2, 2004

Subject:  Pain: The Process For Progress 

John 15:2 - "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

So it's been quite some time since I sprinted.  So starting football practice a couple of weeks ago was pretty humbling.  I did all of the proper pre-game stretching and had all of the right gear on and everything.  I was ready.  I went out and "did my thing."  I had a great day out practicing as we scrimmaged another team.  I felt great afterwards too...until the next morning.

Did you know that the process of building muscle or rebuilding muscle first calls for the breakdown of that muscle tissue?  That's what we experience when we are sore from the effects of a new exercise regimen or doing something strenuous.  That pain that we feel is God's process for building more muscle and making us stronger.  

That's the result of work or as God puts it, "bearing fruit."  If we are to bear more fruit in the future, then we have to undergo a purging process and that purging process is most often painful to us.  This whole God-created process is simply the way He does things for us in life.  He takes us through sometimes painful experiences for our benefit and growth.  So when we feel the pain, whether it's from sprinting or from repenting, it's all a part of God's process for progress.  

Carlen