Designed to be Led by Love...

"Do not allow your life to be dictated by your natural circumstances. In other words, don't be led by pain."  ~ Tom Tompkins

When I read this quote this morning, God got my attention...

As human beings living in a fallen world, pain is inevitable.   It may be physical pain from an illness or injury or the emotional pain of a broken relationship.  Either way, pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, and it is ALWAYS a reaction to some external stimulus.

For example, you stub your little toe on the metal bed frame - you experience physical pain.  Angry words exchanged between you and your spouse or a close friend - you experience emotional pain.  However, pain is not inherently a bad thing.  Pain actually motivates us to withdraw from a potentially dangerous situation, protect a damaged part of the body while it heals, and avoid similar situations in the future.  But when we allow pain to be our guide, instead of the Holy Spirit, we are headed for trouble.

In Psalm 32:9, we are instructed to not to be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding and which must be harnessed with bit and bridle or else they cannot be led.  As many of you many may know, a bit goes into a horse's mouth and rests on the sensitive space between its teeth.  Thus, when you pull on the bit, it causes pain and the horse respond to that pain by moving in the direction of the pain.  Thus, horses and mules are led by pain.

People can also find themselves being led by pain, as well.  This is especially true when we allow the pain that we have experienced in life to dictate our decisions and our life's direction.  This morning, I found myself in just such a situation...

A little over a month ago, I had a falling out with a very close friend.  The angry words spoken by my friend still echo in my heart.  In fact, I still can't talk about what happened without crying.  But this morning, God got my attention!  Through Psalm 32:9, God showed me that I was allowing the pain from this broken relationship to lead me where I did not want to go - destination depression.

So, I took a deeper look at Psalm 32.  In verses 7, the psalmist sings:  "You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble.  You surround me with songs of victory."  And, in verse 8, God responds, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."  Through these verses I saw how instead of running to Him and hiding my heart in His, I was hiding in my pain.  Instead of trusting Him to protect my heart, I decided not let anyone get that close to me again.  The end result:  I was being led by my pain.

Our heavenly Father did not design us to be led by pain, but rather by His love.  Pain will always lead us where we do not want to go, but His love will always lead us back to Him.  Remember, we were designed to be led by love!