Read:  Isaiah 53

Think:   "I'll never let them hurt me again."   When somebody rejects and hurts us, withdrawing and putting a wall up around our hurt feelings and guarding our heart might seem like a good way of protecting ourselves. But by clinging to “safety” we eventually deny ourselves new chances for love to grow in our hearts.

I remember when my kids were a little younger they were having a rough time with being bullied at school. I listened to them retell their hurts and tried to give them good guidance around how to deal with the bullies. But even though I could help coach them on how to defend or protect themselves or try to intervene and talk to the school staff about the problem on their behalf, I couldn't directly do anything to "fix" their pain from being picked on and mistreated by others.

I prayed but the situation. It did not instantly improve just because I had asked God to help with it. I started to feel angry and ungrateful towards the Lord about the situation. But then I began to reflect back on my own experiences with bullying growing up… And I saw a purpose behind the pain.

As I read and learned more about bullying, I saw that to address its roots fully, a culture of respect must be established. So I tried to work with and encourage those at the school who were concerned about the situation to consider adopting such curriculum. In time, the school began to bring this type of curriculum into the classroom and the situation did improve. It helped me see that even though God's plan for us isn't that we should be mistreated, He can allow such experiences to work something good! Perhaps we learn and grow, we develop empathy or a greater care for others… In my case, I developed the desire to find ways to grow an atmosphere of compassion and respect in our school and community.

God does allow bad things in our lives so we come to know a good thing, using uncomfortable circumstances to help us grow in character and become more like Him. By allowing us to suffer difficulty, He lets us develop an earnest desire to not just see a wrong righted, but to do what it requires of us to make it right as well.

Do: Consider how God has used an experience in your own life that was perhaps painful and where you felt rejected to help you learn more about what He values. What did you learn?

Pray:   God, you know all the desires of my heart and where I have felt hurt or rejection, you know my pain and intimately understand it. Help me to appreciate more clearly how you have allowed such experiences in my life to help me learn to grow and desire you and your ways more in my life. Amen.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.