Life Hurts

Today two of my best friends and I got together for a little coffee date.
All three of us have been through some very trying times in the past two years, circumstances made even harder by the fact that we were far apart in distance.

We laughed, we reminisced, we shared, we praised, and we almost cried or at least I almost did.

"Life hurts," was A.'s response to my fears and anxiety of relapsing into burnout. And how true that statement was and is.

Even after going through burnout I still go around thinking that pain is abnormal and that I need to avoid it. I also have this mentality that I've had my share of crap in life as a kid so I should be exempt for the next few decades.

But the truth of the matter is, that I live in a fallen, imperfect world with other fallen, imperfect people, and sooner or later life's going to hurt. It's the norm not the exception, but I keep forgetting this, and keep going around trying to protect myself with walls a zillion feet high as if I could really avoid pain forever that way. Silly me.

But I think the saddest part is that I forget my Lord and Master, who promises that:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Isaiah 43:2-3

Life hurts, but He gets me through.