Well, it’s Week 46 of my 52-week hiking challenge and we are finally entering the part that I knew would be the most painful for me personally.  Why?

I HATE The heat.

I know, hate is a strong word, but ever since I can remember, I have dreaded summer (maybe it’s because I grew up in a house with no air-conditioning).  So far this year hasn’t been too bad…June was an absolute delight.  But this past Saturday it was clear that summer meant business.

I wish I could say I was smart and disciplined and that I got on the trail at the crack of dawn so as to avoid the worst of the heat, but no, I hit the snooze button about twenty-seven times and didn’t end up starting my hike until 8am. It actually didn’t get super bad until 10am, at which time I still had an hour left of hiking and was starting to feel a little punchy.

Now, if this were Arizona, I probably wouldn’t have felt quite so lousy in the 92-degree air I was moving through.  But it’s Baltimore. And it’s HUMID.  The “real-feel” temperature had to have been at least eleven thousand degrees (at least that’s the story I’m making up in my head ;-)).

But here’s the thing: the humidity makes for the most amazing pictures. The hot, humid air hits the surface of the river and creates a mist that catches the sun’s rays as they shoot through the forest canopy.  On days like this, it looks like I’m walking through a perfectly-lit movie set for a film about Heaven.  It’s a bit of beauty and glory that I get to witness only because of the heat and humidity I hate so much.

This made me think about other things in life that I find unpleasant, uncomfortable, or painful, but that end up producing something wonderful, beautiful, or glorious.  Working out would be at the top of that list.  Can’t say I look forward to it each time I jump in the car to see my torturer trainer.  He pushes me and makes me do all kinds of exercises that I’d really rather not do.  But darn if I don’t notice I am getting stronger…able to do more…and feeling less achy.

Because of Romans 8:28, I know that every single painful thing I have gone through in my life has been worth the pictures, so to speak:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (NIV)

Every disappointment.

Every leave-taking.

Every breakup.

Every failure.

Every loss.

It can be hard for me to remember this, of course, when the humidity starts to get to me.  That’s why I am so thankful for the glimpses God gives me of the beauty, the glory, and the goodness that will always remain at the end of the story.  Glimpses of:

– how much I am loved by my friends and family as they come around me when I’m in pain

– the way God uses my story to lift up someone else who is struggling in the same way I have

– the opportunity and adventure that is still to come

But the most valuable thing I get out of the painful times in my life?  An unmistakable sense of God’s reality and presence. There is something about pain, sadness, and loneliness that never fails to result in an intimate encounter with my Creator.  C.S. Lewis surely got it right when he wrote (from his book The Problem of Pain): “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains…”

A deeper sense of His presence is the best “good” I could ever ask for…literally the most awesome feeling I have ever experienced.  It tears my heart open and makes me feel so full that I can’t contain the awe and pure love that fills me up.  The pain is still there, but somehow the darkness of it gets “out-lit” by God’s bigness, perfection, compassion and love. I don’t mean to get all “woo-woo” on you, and I wish I could explain it better.  Watch the end of the movie “Contact” with Jodie Foster (if you haven’t already seen it) and you’ll understand the tension I feel trying to write about an experience only I can feel at the time.

Now’s the part where it would be great if I could write about how, in every painful situation, I just stop and pray and wait for God’s presence to make it all go away, but that’s not usually what happens in the moment.  I find myself complaining and venting and feeling miserable with the best of them.  I forget about God as the painful situation is still unfolding. It’s usually not until I hit rock bottom and am in the middle of a full-on ugly cry that I remember God is there with me.

So the work for me?  It’s to remind myself from the beginning to look for the greater good in every painful situation…even if it’s just knowing that I’m not at the end of my story yet. I know doing that won’t necessarily take the pain away, but it will give it a context that’s grounded in hope, beauty and love.

To put it simply, this means I need to look at the pictures in this blog post before stepping out onto a hot and humid trail again.

A great exercise to help cement this concept in your brain is to sit down and list out some of the most painful episodes in your life.  For each one, list at least one good thing that came out of it.  If you get stuck with one, try processing it with a trusted friend.  Often our peeps see things in our lives that we either forget about or don’t see at all.

The more you practice looking for the good in every situation, the better you’ll get at it.  And the better you’ll feel.

I’d love to hear your feedback on this post as we all can experience pain very differently from each other.  Helpful?  Confusing?  Hilarious?  Shoot me a comment and let me know!

Stay cool and have a great week!