At times, life can really hurt. In the midst of joys, smiles, and laughter there is also the pain. Life can really hurt sometimes.  Whether it's something we bring on ourselves or it's something that just happens to us, there times when life really hurts.  And hurts come in all shapes, sizes, and sometimes without any warnings at all. 

 

This we find in the city of Joppa when a young woman's death hurts a community of people. Her death may have caused a great stir because the writer lets us know that she was a woman who went around doing good and helped people. So the community was hurt by the loss of this woman's life. Because quite frankly loss hurts. 

 

However, here in this story, we can find some ways to deal with our own hurts in life. We can take some lessons from this community's experience to gain help for our hurts.  It's evident in the text that when we learn to lean on others, let God fix what only He can repair, and live for God then we are able to gain help for our own hurts.  This does not exempt us from the pains of living but does provide a process for us to grow through the pains of life.