Greg, Lori, and Harvest Ministries would like to send you the movie Unsung Hero, the back story of the music group for King and Country. It's a story of a mom and a dad and their seven kids putting their faith into action. You're going to be deeply moved by this story of the amazing small-bone family that have gone on to impact so many through their music, and we are offering this film to you for your gift of any size.
Get the DVD and digital download of Unsung Hero at harvest.org. Lady Gaga, heard of her, very successful recording artist, also has been in film, had an amazing career. But apparently, Stephanie Germanotta, that's Lady Gaga's real name, deals with chronic pain. But she made some amazing statements recently in an interview. I want you to listen to them, and then I'd like to respond. I consider myself a spiritual, religious woman. I don't go to church every Sunday, but I do pray every day. I think my greatest spiritual awakening actually has been quite recent. I realized that I have the chronic pain that I have for a reason, and I don't mean to be like, God gave it to me. I also don't believe in the karma thing, where like you're sick because you did something bad. But I do believe that this happened for a reason, all of it. I think I was supposed to go through all of these things.
I radically accept that they happened, and I think it happened because God was saying to me, I'm going to show you pain, and then you're going to help other people who are in pain because you're going to understand it. When I talk to God, I say, tell me what to do. Tell me what to say. Tell me how to say it, and help me see the path. And if you show me that path, I will walk down it. So my practice and my commitment is gratitude. Gratitude even in the midst of the pain, I do this all the time. I will be laying on my porch in pain crying, and I will say, thank you God for this pain. Thank you. I surrender it to you. This pain is meant for me and my body right now. I'm here in this moment, and I'm learning.
Thank you for teaching me. I have radically accepted, and I'm a survivor, and I'm living, and I'm thriving, and I'm strong, and I'm going to take all my life experiences, and I'm going to share them with the world and make it a better place. I thought that was really insightful of Stephanie, Lady Gaga, to talk about how she believes that God allows us in our life. She doesn't believe in karma.
That's a plus. And she believes that there's a purpose in her pain, and she's practicing gratitude. That's actually biblical. The Bible says in everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. The Bible also says give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his mercy endures forever. It doesn't mean what I'm going through is good, but it means that God is good. And I love how Stephanie also said that she wanted to use her pain to help other people.
That's really insightful. But here's the thing I really want to address, is when Lady Gaga says that she's looking for the path. She wants God to reveal the path, and then she wants to walk in it.
What a great request. Stephanie, God has revealed the path to you in the Bible. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through me. Jesus Christ is the way to a relationship with God.
And I would encourage you, Lady Gaga, Stephanie, to turn to the Lord and call out to him. And when you practice your gratitude, offer that gratitude to God, who has a plan for your life. Maybe he's allowed this in your life to wake you up to your need for him. We all need God. I went through a horrible tragedy 16 years ago when we lost our son in an automobile accident. And the only way I got through that was by the grace and the help of God. And he will help you through your pain, no matter what you're going through. The psalmist said, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept your word. Sometimes God allows pain to get our attention.
It was C.S. Lewis who once said, quote, we can ignore pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures. He speaks to our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. So to Lady Gaga and anybody else watching right now, if you're going through a time of pain, if you're going through a time of hardship, remember that God is there, ready to reach out to you and to help you and to speak to you and to guide you. He loves you and he has a plan for your life, and he's only a prayer away.
