MAN IS NOT FULLY CONDITIONED AND DETERMINED BUT RATHER DETERMINES HIMSELF WHETHER HE GIVES IN TO CONDITIONS OR STAND UP TO THEM.  IN OTHER WORDS, MAN IS ULTIMATELY SELF-DETERMINING.  MAN DOES NOT SIMPLY EXIST BUT ALWAYS DECIDES WHAT HIS EXISTENCE WILL BE, WHAT HE WILL BECOME IN THE NEXT MOMENT
(Victor E. Frankl).

Life is full of joy, but also full of pain.  There is the pain of feeling alone, companionless, or forsaken.  Then there is the pain of rejection—feeling unwanted and victimized.  Still yet, there is the pain of shame—a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety.  There is also the pain of being bad, evil, or condemned.

Regardless of which pain you have, the determining question is, “What are you going to do with it?”  You see, you do not simply exist, but God made you into a self-determining being—a being whose quality of existence depends on your choices.  YOU ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY ANYBODY.  You have the freedom to choose what you will become in the midst of your pain, even in the next moment.  You have the freedom to decide whether your pain will control you…or you, your pain.  If you believe that you HAVE to obey the message your pain conveys, the father-of-lies has deceived you.  YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO OBEY THE FATHER-OF-LIES!

HE IS DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN; A MAN OF SORROWS, AND ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF…SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS
(Isaiah 53:3-4).

I bless you to know that you DO have a choice: to decide who you will be in the midst of your heartache and suffering.  You have the choice to run from your sorrows, hide from your anguish, or blame someone else for your wounds.

In contrast, you have the choice to allow Jesus, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, to bear your suffering and carry your sorrows for you. Then, you will be set free from your emotional pain, regardless of the circumstances that caused them.

WORTHY IS THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER AND RICHES AND WISDOM, AND STRENGTH AND HONOR AND GLORY AND BLESSING!
(Revelation 5:12).

After looking at the list above, what kind of pain lives in your heart? What is the message your pain transmits?

What have you decided to do with your pain?

PRAYER:  Lord Jesus, Man of Sorrows, I praise You that You have borne my grief and carried my sorrows, so I do not have to bear my grief and carry my sorrows anymore. I surrender the pain in my heart to You, so I may be set free to follow You.