When I was a little girl I remember I used to lay in bed at night and started to feel these pains in my legs. They would come in slowly, and yet once they came they just got worse. I remember when they would start I would be "ok" and try to tough it out. I would even tell myself "you are not going to cry about them this time, they are not so bad... you can tough it out." And yet, the tears would come. Not just tears either, out loud cries would come too. I would do all I could to try and make them go away. I would rub my legs, I would rock back and forth, and I would even try to hit my legs thinking that adding more pain would take my mind off of them. WOW, what crazy things we think of while in pain. The fact of the matter is that nothing I did was going to stop them or even make them hurt less; I just had to let them take their course. Once they were over, I could go to sleep, and not really think about them in the morning when I woke up. Another fact is that, although I am in no way a tall person, they had to happen so that I might be taller and grow physically as in age and mentally. I am now thankful for those growing pains because they were a sign that I was growing, and that I was not destined to be shorter than I already am.
But all of that to say, in my life growing brings pains with it, and nothing I can do will change that. BUT, the difference between those growing pains as a child, and the ones I have experienced in my life is that I serve a God who is working in such a way that I may grow more like His son, Jesus Christ. He is a God who provides comfort, and joy, and strength, and contentment within the pains, and helps us to be thankful for them. To see the growth that comes from those growing pains is a blessing and truly a testimony to God's grace. Thank you Lord, that they are not just pains in vain, but "growing pains."
