I have a love-hate relationship with my CPAP. On the one hand, I know it helps. Once I get to sleep at night, I sleep much better, waking up less frequently. I’m not tired all the time. I’m no longer afraid to sleep because I might stop breathing. I don’t wake up into bad tachycardia episodes. Using the CPAP every night has changed my life and may have lengthened it. It’s great!

On the other hand, the CPAP is not terribly comfortable. If I’m having a rough time getting to sleep, the CPAP just makes it worse. If it’s not tight enough, there’s the noise and the bits of wind in my eyes. Since I fix it so that it is tight enough, there are lines on my cheeks every morning where the straps cross my face. Quite frankly, I don’t like the thing.

But I wear it–every night–because I know it’s essential for my physical health.

There are times when following Jesus can be like that; not always pleasant, sometimes really painful. Always, however, best for our spiritual health.

Paul tells the story of his “thorn in the flesh”:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV)

We don’t know what Paul’s thorn was. We do know that it was unpleasant. Unpleasant enough that he “pleaded” three times for God to remove it. God doesn’t remove it. Instead, he tells Paul that his weakness is for the best, because God’s power can work perfectly in him because of his weakness. 

As Christians, we can be tempted to believe that we shouldn’t have to put up with the bad things, the hard things, in life. After all, we serve the Creator, the Healer, the Provider. He made us and the world, so he can make everything good. He can heal anything. He can provide every need and want we have. The Bible tells us that he “will wipe away every tear.”

We miss the context. Jesus will wipe our tears away in the new heaven and earth: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4 ESV). This comfort and freedom from sadness and pain are a promise for the next life, not for this one.

Jesus said that he has overcome the world, right after a warning about the hard times coming: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b ESV). We’re still in the world, and we’re still going to face the troubles of being here. Jesus promises to be with us and bring us peace in the troubles. He doesn’t promise to keep us comfortable. Even human parents will sacrifice their children’s happiness for the sake of their safety and education.N God is much more concerned with our spiritual growth.

All of the good things are coming. Right now, we’re living in a world filled with brokenness and sin, and God is using our circumstances to mold us into the image of Jesus, to perfect his power in us. It’s not always fun. It’s definitely not always easy. As the author of Hebrews points out: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11 ESV).

When we focus on the things we want God to provide, especially the material things and comforts, we lose sight of what matters. We become weaker spiritually, and we miss out on the abundant life he offers us now. 

We need to understand that what is needed for our spiritual health can sometimes be hard and unpleasant. We must learn to accept what God allows into our lives and welcome his power at work within us. Then we will experience all the benefits of his life in us both now and in that place where pain and sorrow will be gone.

Photo by Aliyah Jamous on Unsplash