JUNE 19, 2013
Play
In Pain
Read: Lamentations
3:1-3, 25-33
Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion. —Lamentations 3:32
Baseball
Hall-of-Fame catcher Gary Carter was a follower of Jesus. During his
19-year
career, he drew strength and endurance from his faith in God to compete
day
after day. In an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal shortly after
Carter died of brain cancer at
age 57, writer Andrew Klavan told how Carter had
influenced his life.
In
the late 1980s, Klavan had sunk to a low point in his life. His mind dwelt on
suicide. Then he heard Carter interviewed after a game. His team, the New York
Mets, had won, and the aging catcher had helped by running hard at a critical
point in the game. Carter was asked how he could do that with his aching knees.
Klavan heard him say something like this: “Sometimes you just have to play in
pain.” That simple statement helped draw Klavan out of his depression. “I can
do
that!” he declared. Encouraged, he found hope—and later became a believer in
Christ.
The
comforting truth behind Carter’s statement comes from Lamentations. We
may face
sorrow, pain, and hardship, but we don’t have to sink into self-pity. The
same
God who allows our suffering also showers us with His compassion (Lam. 3:32).
With God’s love lifting us up, we can—if we have to—“play” in pain.
Along life’s pathway troubles come
That God will help us bear;
Then we can look beyond the pain
To those who need our care. —Branon
God will either spare you from suffering or give you the grace
to bear it.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
