The title of today’s devotional looks paradoxical and you may be tempted to ask, “What blessing can be associated with pain?” Without a doubt, pain is a part of life mostly related with suffering and hardship. As humans, we would rather avoid pain. However, if properly channeled, pain can become a pathway to progress. How?

Most of the Psalms were written by David during those painful years when he was running from Saul or fighting one enemy or the other. We can attest to the fact that those Psalms are now used as soothing balms for those passing through various trials in life.

There is a popular saying, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonades out of them;” and a funny Nigerian one which says: “If life gives you pepper, make pepper-soup out of it.” So whatever pain you might be going through today, don’t let it break your resolve but rather use it as an opportunity to birth something worthwhile in your life.
Let the pain of joblessness push you to become more creative, bringing out the entrepreneur in you. Let the pain of trekking spur you to save more judiciously to buy a car.

In conclusion, Jill Scott (a multi award winning American artist who used her pain to birth many great things in her career) said, “Heartbreak was the impetus to me writing poems and music in the first place. Over the years, I had my heart broken so badly that if I didn’t find a way to get all the pain out, I was going to lose my mind. I was crazy! I was so hurt that I had to write.”

May your experiences cause you to make WAVES this Wednesday!

ADDITIONAL STUDY
Psalm 61:1-2, Genesis 27:40B and 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.