Growth Hurts

Recently my youngest child has been waking in the middle of the night with various complaints of pain. Either a leg or foot hurts. His tearful sobs break my mama’s heart as he asks me to stop the pain. Unfortunately, he’s in the midst of a growth spurt, and his growth involves pain I can’t take away.

He’s been on the smaller side most of his life, falling in the 10th to 20th percentile for his height and weight. I sense that’s about to change. He looks longer to me. When his legs are stretched out, his feet are among the stuffed animals that congregate at the end of his bed. And the other day he exclaimed, “My feet can touch the floor when I’m in the car!” Oh, how quickly he is growing.

While he is excited to be getting bigger, he doesn’t enjoy the pain that goes with it. As with most areas of our lives, though, in order for his body to grow, he must endure painful growth spurts.

I can’t do much when he wakes with the pain in his legs except do my best to comfort him. We sit on the couch, and I rub his legs and sing him lullabies. And to be honest, this is as much for me as it is for him. All too soon he won’t want lullabies sung to him. He won’t have moments when he wants only me.

After some snuggles, we pray, and I tuck him back in bed for the night. The next morning, we talk about what happened, and I can see with my eyes how he has grown. He can feel how he has grown when the shoes he wore two days ago now feel uncomfortable.

The pain he endured was not for nothing. Growth is visible.

When I recall times of growth in my own life, I remember how painful they were. I remember the tears and despair. Those times will always be part of my memories.

As much as I can remember the pain, however, what stands out more is the comfort I received. As I turned to God and spent hours reading his Word, I was comforted. I knew that even in my season of growth and pain, he was with me. God doesn’t want us to endure our pain alone. He desires for us to share our pain with him so he can comfort us.

Paul shared how God is the God of all comfort with the church of Corinth:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–7 NIV)

What I appreciate most about this passage is that it reminds us our pain and trouble are never wasted. Not only do we grow as people when we endure pain and trouble, but we’re also equipped by God to be a source of comfort to those who travel down the same road of pain.

Personally, I don’t like pain. Not one bit. My pain tolerance is in the negative numbers somewhere. However, I’m thankful I’m not the person I once was. I’m thankful for the growth.

Without the painful and troublesome times, I wouldn’t have turned to God and clung to him to be my comforter. Without the pain, I wouldn’t have had a spiritual growth spurt. And most importantly, without the pain, I wouldn’t have been able to hold a friend’s hand in her season of pain and trouble and be a source of comfort to her. I wouldn’t have been able to share how I experienced God’s faithfulness in a similar season.

 

Friend, I don’t know what season you’re in right now, but I do know this:

Your growth will involve pain.

God is your comforter.

Your pain will not be wasted.

Someday God will use you as a source of comfort to someone else.

Heather Gerwing is a homeschooling mom of four. She is a Jersey girl at heart but now lives in Michigan with her husband Jeff and their kids. Heather enjoys reading, coffee-ing, worshipping and writing. She is passionate about her family and living the full life. You can find her at heathergerwing.com.

Photograph © Khai Sze Ong, used with permission