Our hearts pump purpose through our veins. To live is to long to get where we’re meant to go. But all living things encounter pain along the road. And pain hurts. Hurt, it hinders. It consumes time, sucks mental energy, and demands our resources. Suffering stops many in their tracks.

But what if pain could double as a pathway?

1 day dead. 2 months in the hospital. 3 years in rehab. 4 years in chronic pain. My accumulated suffering was no walk in the park. But in time it took on an unexpected shape. As I peered past the hurt, it’s blinding fog cleared. In its place emerged a footbridge.

Jesus saw suffering as the means to indescribable joy. He endured it with purpose in view. He turned the cruelest torture into a pathway. The Great Shepard knows the way. He invites us to follow.

I assure you, if allowed, He’ll turn your cross into a Bridge Through Pain.

-Micah McElveen