In the midst of pain, we begin to understand the price Jesus paid for our salvation.

God has graciously sewn laughter into our days, bright moments tucked among the shadows of illness and pain, and while those moments don't change our circumstances, they can lessen our pain and shift our hearts toward joy.

Chronic illness is hard. Pain is hard. Isolation is hard. The financial cost is hard. Grieving is hard and necessary and sometimes takes far longer than we ever imagined.

Biblical lament is an honest, vulnerable expression of pain, a crying out to God in faith as we are suffering.

Recently God asked me the same question in a new way, "And if I don't allow you to heal, if I never remove the pain, will you still trust Me?

He spoke three simple sentences and I understood why my injuries are permanent. Every hard moment, all the pain, had prepared me to walk beside my son. In a heartbeat, it was worth it. A decade later, it still is.

Pushing our pain aside...diminishes our human experience.

Often when we seek comfort, what we long for is healing. If God removed the pain, frustration, discomfort or illness each time we sought His comfort, would we be drawn to Him out of love or simply opportunity?

Could illness and pain hold greater purpose than we imagine?