"God's people have no assurances that the dark experiences of life will be held at bay, much less that God will provide some sort of running commentary on the meaning of each day's allotment of confusion, boredom, pain, or achievement. It is no great matter where we are, provided we see that the Lord has placed us there, and that He is with us." --John Newton
Being that I'm a person who wants to know the meaning of things immediately, this quote really hit home for me. I just wish that we could walk through life with a 'ticker' running at the bottom of the 'screen', explaining what to do in difficult situations, which way to go at a fork in the road, what that person really meant when they said something that hurt us, which pieces of a friend's advice we should actually listen to, etc. I think discernment is a hard thing sometimes - you may have all the desire in the world for making the 'right' decision, but at times, we just can't figure out what 'right' is!
And we also want painful situations so stop just as soon as they start. We don't want to push through the pain to the other side....we want to avoid it, fix it, medicate it, bury it and deny it. I would venture to say that most people who begin using drugs are doing it to mask some sort of pain in their lives. It obviously becomes an addiction that brings with it a whole new batch of problems, but I think it's important to look at the reason why they started using in the first place. I have never done drugs, but I think that in some moments of my life, it would've been nice to have something to numb the pain I was feeling. I would love to just medicate myself through the holidays and wake up when they are over - that would be fabulous! But it's just not how I choose to deal with emotional pain.
Since God doesn't always reveal the meaning behind our experiences for a long time (or ever), I think that's where faith comes in.
We need to have faith that there is a purpose or reason why we are going through hardships and pain. I know I have looked back on experiences in my life and had 'ah-ha moments' and realized some invaluable lessons that I learned from what happened - lessons I couldn't have learned any other way.
Being that I'm a person who wants to know the meaning of things immediately, this quote really hit home for me. I just wish that we could walk through life with a 'ticker' running at the bottom of the 'screen', explaining what to do in difficult situations, which way to go at a fork in the road, what that person really meant when they said something that hurt us, which pieces of a friend's advice we should actually listen to, etc. I think discernment is a hard thing sometimes - you may have all the desire in the world for making the 'right' decision, but at times, we just can't figure out what 'right' is!
And we also want painful situations so stop just as soon as they start. We don't want to push through the pain to the other side....we want to avoid it, fix it, medicate it, bury it and deny it. I would venture to say that most people who begin using drugs are doing it to mask some sort of pain in their lives. It obviously becomes an addiction that brings with it a whole new batch of problems, but I think it's important to look at the reason why they started using in the first place. I have never done drugs, but I think that in some moments of my life, it would've been nice to have something to numb the pain I was feeling. I would love to just medicate myself through the holidays and wake up when they are over - that would be fabulous! But it's just not how I choose to deal with emotional pain. 
Since God doesn't always reveal the meaning behind our experiences for a long time (or ever), I think that's where faith comes in. 
We need to have faith that there is a purpose or reason why we are going through hardships and pain. I know I have looked back on experiences in my life and had 'ah-ha moments' and realized some invaluable lessons that I learned from what happened - lessons I couldn't have learned any other way.
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