paradox.

 

I pray for your misery because I love you.

A strange sort of paradox.

I want to see joy, not happiness in the wells of your soul.

Contentment, deep and satisfying, not pleasure that comes and goes with the seasons.

If I did not love you I would merely wish for your happiness.

I would not pray for your heart to break, for your tears.

It is pain that drives us where we belong: at the feet of God.

The wounds on our flesh and in our soul come from our fallen nature.

Our tattered and torn image of God can only be repaired by the one who created it.

Healing comes through pain.

Salvation comes through pain.

Eternity comes through pain.

Only through Christ can your wounds be healed, salvation granted, eternity made sure.

Pain comes because the Lord disciplines those He loves.  

And so I pray for your pain.