“You’re going to break the ribs,” he told us. “If you don’t hear the snap, crack, and pop—you’re not doing it right.” The CPR instructor urged our staff to perform chest compressions effectively. 

He said that way too often people try to perform CPR but don’t push hard enough. “You are the person’s heartbeat,” he reminded us. “Do you want to save that person’s life or be gentle and watch him die? Believe me, if you do it right, he’ll be sore but he’ll also be alive and will thank you for saving him.” 

Sometimes, to save a person, you need to hurt him or her.

Do you want God to save you or make life easy for you and your foolish pleasures? Do you want God to give you life the right way or spoil you so that you love the gifts more than the Giver?

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (Psalm 51:8). 

Believers don’t look for joy outside of suffering but in it, through it. With what does this psalmist rejoice? Where does his gladness come from? Is it a lavish banquet or strategic military victory? No. From his crushed bones.

Yes, Christians still experience troubles, but these are not lightning bolts hurled by God to punish us. They are like controlled, targeted electrical power surges or heart compressions when God’s love for us must hurt us to save us.

Snap. Zap. Pop. Life from God may hurt. You’ll thank him for it.