Pain is a dangerous beauty

(revised and formerly entitled 'My Painful Introspection')
PAIN IS EVERYWHERE.. and our God alone is they answer.
There is pain in our own bodies, our minds, and our souls. Pain is found inside our own families, our friends, and everywhere else if you turn on the news and see all the angry hateful hurting people of our country and this world wanting relief from pain. With this in mind let me share..

My Painful Introspection.. by Jeff Larson (deep thoughts)

1.  Pain.. it hurts,
2.  Hurting.. I don't like hurting,
3.  I bruise like a peach, and
4.  If it is said most of the important lessons learned in life are through our failures and our pain.. then I should be a genius!.. but am not

​For those of you that know me, aches and pains have been my lifelong companion & complaint.  I have migraines, a bad back, and these days I spend more and more time discussing life with my good friend Arthur Itus (arthritis). It tell Art what I would like to do, and he tells me why I can't.

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Of course PAIN IS a relative experience, as I know the headaches, and bad back I suffer with are trivial by comparison to what others suffer with.  None the less these are MY pains and THEY DO HURT... and this is MY blog. :)

But seriously, many of the important lessons I have experienced in life have involved pain. It may be dealing with physical pain, or lessons found the other side of (painful) blunders, stumbles, and/or bad choices. Or even deeper yet are the lessons I found in the death of a close friend or family member.

I believe the problem of PAIN & SUFFERING is the source of the age old question. If there is a God why does he allow bad things to happen to good people?  

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This is valid question, but for me I see a 'dangerous beauty' in this broken world where God the Creator allows his creation (you & me) the opportunity to persevere and succeed despite our state of brokenness.
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Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

This Dangerous Beauty is found as we are allowed to choose right from wrong in big & small ways, and even good from evil. 
There is danger in choosing poorly, and if we do not persevere.. BUT
there is beauty in prayerfully choosing well, supporting each other, to persevere, and trust God when bad things happen to good people... when it HURTS!
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I believe Faith, Family, and Friends (in that order) is how God intends to comfort and heal this world of hurts. I seek God as my compass and my only worship, and I thank God for the blessing of family and friends where we can love and support each other as God intends.

May God bless and provide for each of you this day with love and grace when you are hurting physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually.  While pain can be very discouraging, but may we as believers (His Church) be God's comfort and healing for others in this broken/hurting world.

Jeff (ibuprofen infused) Larson

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