When my twin daughters entered their adolescent years, it became quite clear that at some point they would both need braces.
So, my husband and I prepared and saved for the occasion, knowing that even though it would require some sacrifice, this was a gift we were giving our daughters that would last their lifetimes.
Two days before their 13th birthday, they went to the orthodontist and began the process of straightening their teeth. That birthday they ate their cake with aching, wire-filled mouths.
For a year and a half, they lived with glittery smiles, sore gums, and limitations on the types of food they were allowed to eat. After months and months of the deprivation and pain, they could both hardly wait for the proclamation that their teeth were finally straight.
On the night before the removal of the braces, a big storm ripped through town and knocked down power lines. Imagine my daughters’ disappointment, when the orthodontist called and canceled their appointment because their office was without power.
Eventually, however, they were able to get their braces off. And at the first sight of them in over a year without the metal on their teeth, I was struck just how beautiful their smiles were. Of course, their smiles were pretty before too! But after all that effort, time, and money, their teeth are now nearly perfect.
The process reminded me of how we often have to go through pain in order to create beauty.
It’s true of so many things in life–the pain of childbirth produces a beautiful baby, the act of spinning a cocoon results in a butterfly, the coldness and death of winter brings about the warmth and new life of spring. We could think of hundreds of other examples in nature.
The inevitable truth is that pain begets beauty. Or perhaps more accurately, beauty often comes on the heels of hardship.
The process that a story goes through in order to become a book follows the same pattern of pain into beauty. A novel starts as a bunch of words on paper. It’s rough, full of mistakes, plot holes, and character flaws. It takes weeks and numerous rounds of edits to chisel, chop, and patch the manuscript.
It’s a laborious process taking hours of pain-staking concentration, agonizing over words, searching for precise details, deciding what to cut and what to add. But without the difficult editing process, my stories wouldn’t reach their full potential. Eventually all the hardship results in a polished and lovely creation.
In some ways, perhaps our pains and hardship are even God-ordained. Perhaps he knows we wouldn’t become quite as beautiful and polished without the pain. Maybe that’s why he says: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (along with a whole host of other positive qualities) James 1:2
The pain is worth it. In the end we’re better and more beautiful because of it. And that IS something to rejoice in.
Even though we can acknowledge the simple lesson of pain creating beauty, we’re all too often told by our modern culture to avoid hardship, to find the easy way, to be comfortable. We’re all about convenience. We throw away anything that takes too much work.
As we move forward into a new year, we’ll all get braces (trials of some kind or another!). I pray we can stick with the hardship and see it through to completion without giving up on the hope of the beauty that results.
What about YOU? Have you had any pain to beauty lessons lately?
Jody Hedlund
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Beautiful post, Jody! We were just discussing this very thing in Bible study yesterday morning looking at 1 Samuel and Hannah’s pain. God definitely brought something beautiful out of her pain. Great reminder! Have a blessed year.
So true, Dani! I hadn’t thought of Hannah’s story, but that was definitely some beauty from pain! Happy New Year to you too!
This is such a great reminder, Jody. I wore braces for almost two years. My mom took a job as a school bus driver to pay for my braces. I will be ever grateful for her sacrifice because my teeth were horribly crooked and kept me from smiling fully! Now I smile all the time. What a great metaphor for the work, sometimes painful, that God does in our lives for our own good and for His glory!
What a wonderful gift your mom gave you, Deb! The sacrifices parents are willing to make for their children could take up an entire post in itself!
James 1:2 seemed to be my personal verse for 2018. I was in unexplainable pain for over 1/2 of the year and am still trying to figure out the lesson God was/is teaching me. But throughout it all I claimed another verse – Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I may never understand the reason for what I went through, but am so thankful I could cling to Him and the promises in His Word during this difficult time.
I, too, had braces and the before and after pictures still shock me some 30 years later.
I love that verse, Amy! God does a work in us through our hardships and creates beauty that sometimes we can’t see until much later!
Jody, I was a victim of a violent sexual assault in 1985. It took me about 2 years to forgive the guy, and during that time and for years after I was plagued by panic attacks, nightmares, and anxiety. I got into therapy immediately after the assault, and continued at various times for the next 10 years. After forgiving the guy the panic attacks were less frequent, but still there, and the one thing I learned during that time was that head knowledge was not the same as real life experience. I also learned that God protects us from to much recall of an incident. HE is the gatekeeper to our memories, and knows how much recall we can tolerate at a time. It is long slow process and you cannot rush it. God and I had some heated confrontations about this at various times. He always won!
Another thing I learned was I hated that all my therapists at the last session would ask me this question,” If your rapist was in this room right now what would you say to him if anything?” My response was always the same ” Not a damned thing, I have nothing to say to him ever!” Than I had a friend that was in prison in another state that I would visit occasionally, then he was transferred to a prison in the city where I was living. I was glad but than realized that it was the same prison my rapist had been sent to, I was really afraid that I would see him when I went to visit , and I was also afraid my friend would meet him, and I didn’t want that to happen I was so worried about this it manifested as a dream, in this dream I am visiting my friend when something catches my eye, and I turn to see that my rapist was seated at a table 2 tables away from me he sees me and says,” Hi Pam.” I lose it. I jump up and go to his table and proclaim to him,”Get out of my life, stay away from me and don’t ever come around me again!!” The next time I go to see my therapist I tell him about my dream. He asks me how I feel about the dream and what it might mean? I hadn’t thought about it so had to take a few minutes to think about, and I tell him I don’t know for sure but maybe that I just want him gone from my life and my memories. The therapist asked me how I felt after I confronted him in my dream? Again I hadn’t thought about it but told him, “I Felt good about myself and relieved that it was over.” The last thing the therapist asked me was,” So tell me if he was in this room right now what would you say to him?” Without a pause I said, ” Get out of my life don’t you ever come around me again!” The therapist smiled and said ” Well, I think we are done , Pam.” I looked at him and realized the purpose of the question that had been asked over the years, I had taken control of my life again, and wasn’t afraid of him anymore!The reality was I had rejected Satan and his lies that I couldn’t trust God to keep me safe. Life is a process sometimes that pain lasts for years, until we are willing to let go of our fear. Sorry this was so long!
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Pam. That was beautiful and I really pray it brings peace and hope to someone else who might be struggling with the same issue. It’s true that sometimes our pain can last years before we see the beauty that God can bring from it! Blessings to you!
I recently finished a manuscript and sent it off to an agency, all while rehabbing from my 2nd hip replacement. This whole thing was birthed in a time a great pain three years ago, and the journey has been a mental, emotional and spiritual ride. I think the theme for this past year was, “If God brings you to it, He will see you through it.” It’s the theme for my novel as well. Theme for 2019? “Onward.”
I love that theme for the past year, Janice! He walks beside us and is there waiting to help carry our burdens!
I’ve battled chronic health issues for almost 15 years now, but this past August we finally got to the root cause of everything and I’ve begun the process of killing this virus and letting my body recover from years of damage and trauma. It’s been so hard and painful at times, almost as much as before the diagnosis, but I’ve already seen so much progress in only 4 months that I have to remind myself that it’s going to get even better. My word for this year is Grace, I need to let my body heal on it’s own, to start saying no to people if I can’t do things while I heal, to sit and be patient. I’ve learned that trying times can either hold me back or push me forward, so I want to keep going forward no matter how hard the next few months will be.
Hi Abby,
Wow! I’m delighted to hear that you were able to get at the root cause of your issues! What a blessing that you’re on the road to recovery! Praying all goes well as you move forward.