I am not the first to ask why God allows bad things to happen. Nor will I be the last to demand a response. However, after one month of complaining, groaning and frustration, I sensed the Holy Spirit whisper to me yesterday, “my pain is Christ’s gain.”
As a former professional athlete, I’ve always been able to rely on my God given talents, to work harder than the next person, regularly experiencing success. Yet, when your ability to breathe, lift more than 5 pounds and walk is taken away, you become helpless. Thus, I was placed into a situation where I was vulnerable, forced to depend on Christ’s strength, 2 Corinthians 12:9, to ease my pain.
T-Shirt companies have created similar themes in the past, using God’s Gym instead of Gold’s Gym. On the back, Jesus is doing a push up with the weight of the world, the cross on his back. Nonetheless, a conversation on my first day back at work revealed the true reason for my accident. One of my co-workers was encouraged by posts updating my progress. Subsequently, without my fall, I wouldn’t have had the material to cover these topics. Thus, in the end, God allowed my injury, 2 broken ribs, a lacerated liver and internal bleeding to occur so that my pain was Christ’s gain for eternity.
by Jay Mankus