Luke 17:5 The Apostles Said To The Lord, "Increase Our Faith!"

What incredible magnificent honesty! The apostles recognized their lack of faith. They recognized the necessity of faith. The apostles asked the power of powers to increase their faith. We too, must plead with God to increase our faith. Our faith is the cornerstone of our life with Christ. We cannot readily survive without a strong faith in Christ Jesus. We do not have enough faith. However, Christ will be our guide. He will give us what we need…even our faith. Our pain erodes our faith. Because our pain erodes our faith, Christ stands to help us, support us, and heal us. When we are honest with God about our lack of faith, He comes to us to help us in all manner of ways.

Mark 9:23 " 'If You Can'?" Said Jesus. "Everything Is Possible For Him Who Believes."

Our pain plants the seeds of our doubt. Our Jesus attacks our doubt by asking us to believe. Jesus asks us to believe so we will open up the infinity of His love and power. When we believe in Him and in His truth, our belief opens the door of His eternal reality for us. We too often miss the infinite because we "want it now." When we look beyond our selfish wants dominated by satanic evil, we can begin to get an inkling of how everything is possible. "Everything" is a lot. "Everything" is the infinite.

Mark 11:22 "Have Faith In God," Jesus Answered. 23 "I Tell You The Truth, If Anyone Says To This Mountain, 'Go, Throw Yourself Into The Sea,' And Does Not Doubt In His Heart But Believes That What He Says Will Happen, It Will Be Done For Him. 24 Therefore I Tell You, Whatever You Ask For In Prayer, Believe That You Have Received It, And It Will Be Yours.

Mark 11:22 "Have Faith In God," Jesus Answered. 23 "I Tell You The Truth, If Anyone Says To This Mountain, 'Go, Throw Yourself Into The Sea,' And Does Not Doubt In His Heart But Believes That What He Says Will Happen, It Will Be Done For Him. 24 Therefore I Tell You, Whatever You Ask For In Prayer, Believe That You Have Received It, And It Will Be Yours.

Our pain makes us DISbelieve. In this verse, we see our unlimited Christ the Lord speak about…His true abilities, God the Father's true abilities, and the Holy Spirit's true abilities. There is no secret God can do anything and all things. There is no secret about the unlimited nature of what God can do. To fully understand and fully grasp the meaning of this verse in the context of our pain, we must remember our little reality is tiny compared to all God has created, can create, and will create. Even if we consider God ONLY created just our reality, the human race will likely cease to exist before we know all there is to know about all things in our reality. We do know God never lies. He never "adjusts" the truth. God does not "shade" the truth. These words, about the outcome of what you believe, are the whole truth, spoken to you by our God of truth. You can believe this moment you pain will be no more. The consequence of your belief is…you pain will be no more…maybe not today, but in the future…your pain will be no more.

Romans 4:20 Yet He Did Not Waver Through Unbelief Regarding The Promise Of God, But Was Strengthened In His Faith And Gave Glory To God,

The greatest gift and glory we can give to God is our faithfulness even in our pain. Our terrible enemy, Satan, wants to destroy our faith. Satan wants us to curse God and blame God for every ill, every adversity, and every pain. For this very reason, we must never relent in our faith in God, never give up our faith, and never turn away from God in any circumstance. Even when we are not sure…even when we may not know…we must hold and treasure the promise of a new time, a new day, even a new life within our soul now and a new life to come in the bliss of our hereafter. For when we hold on in the here and now, we have a mighty power who owns the hereafter. In Christ's hereafter of love and grace, He shall be with us and empower us in His love forever. Giving God the glory even when our moments are rotten, enhances God power in others here on earth. Giving God the glory in love, even in your moments of desperation, magnifies Him in every part of your life…now and forever.

Romans 6:16 Don't You Know That When You Offer Yourselves To Someone To Obey Him As Slaves, You Are Slaves To The One Whom You Obey--Whether You Are Slaves To Sin, Which Leads To Death, Or To Obedience, Which Leads To Righteousness?

Are you a slave to your pain? Does your pain rule over your life as if your pain is your slave master? Have you "offered yourself" to your pain as a slave? Have you stood firm against letting your pain rule over you? These are not superficial questions. These are not hypothetical questions. These questions are the real deal in terms of how you relate to your pain. Our Father in heaven and Christ His Son do not want us living in slavery. We may be helpless about some parts of our pain. We are not helpless about how we relate to our pain. We are not helpless about what we let our pain do to us. We are to live in obedience to God's word for our life. When we live in obedience to God's word, in spite of pain and problems, we have life now and forever after if we accept Christ as Lord and Savior. You have a life, even in pain, when Christ is your Lord. You have no life in your pain if you have not made Christ your Lord. Billions of people have lived in pain for years and years. If we could do a supernatural survey to see into the life of these billions, we would find those persons who accepted Christ as their guide and savior we more alive, happier, more joyful, and more hope-filled than those who had not accepted Christ. With Christ there is hope. Without Christ there is nothing.

1 Peter 4:10 Each One Should Use Whatever Gift He Has Received To Serve Others, Faithfully Administering God's Grace In Its Various Forms.

Pain is a gift. What?!?!? No! Say it ain't so!!!! How on anyone's earth could pain be a gift?!?! God works His will in mystery. Many times we do not understand anything about the workings of God. We do not understand many times how God uses pain. God does not inflict pain upon us. Pain is inflicted by Satan who is our enemy. Although God does not inflict the pain, God is more than happy to use our pain to make us more of the kind of person He wants us to be. When we hurt, we must keep in mind we are to align our will with God's will. We are to align our will with God's will and be more of the person He would have us be. When we are God's person, even in our pain, God scores ultimate victories through our life. Even in our pain we are to use our pain in whatever way possible "to serve others faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." Of course serving God in our pain is hard to do. However, would God have you be any other way than a faithful servant in your pain?

Luke 12:48 But The One Who Does Not Know And Does Things Deserving Punishment Will Be Beaten With Few Blows. From Everyone Who Has Been Given Much, Much Will Be Demanded; And From The One Who Has Been Entrusted With Much, Much More Will Be Asked.

For each of us, there is reason and purpose in the unfairness of our suffering. Our pain makes for a great unfairness in life. So many times we see the unfairness but we do not understand the unfairness. It would seem unfair for so many people to have an apparent life of ease when they do not deserve such a life. Conversely, it would seem unfair for a person to have a life of pain and hardship when a life of pain and hardship seems undeserved. However, God is a difficult task-master at times in this life. In this life, God wants our best, even when we are at out worst. God wants us to find victory even in the worst moments of our seeming defeat. This verse explains to us why life seems unfair. Life seems unfair because God wants more than our all. The more God gives us, the more God wants us to produce for Him and for His kingdom. We might not like this part of God's will. However, this part of God's will exists to bring His glory upon the earth. God is not about the easy way. God is not about the broad way where all things are free and easy. God's way is not about the easy way of evil. God's way is about the hard narrow road. Even to the very end of our life, God's way is so often narrow and difficult. However, God's difficult narrow way leads to an eternity with Him. God's narrow way leads to an eternity of ease, joy, bliss, love, and wonderment the magnitude of which we cannot know nor express.