Pain

One of the things that we can be most assured of in this life is that at one point or another we are going to feel some pain.  Pain, in its various forms, is a part of the fallen nature that we endure in this life.  It comes as a part of the decay process that was set off when Adam and Eve first decided to go against Gods words.  Whether the pain is physical, or mental, we are not going to escape some.


Sometimes the pain is so intense that it blots out everything else.  All we feel is the pain.  It blinds us, makes us deaf, keeps us from eating or sleeping...  the entire universe can be swallowed up by one pain.  When we are in that much pain, there is only the moment.  There is only the pain.  We see no future and have forgotten all past.  We plead and beg for the pain to end.  We can feel helpless and hopeless because we are seemingly powerless against the pain and its affects.


Times of great pain can be revealing to us.  Our reactions to pain are bare and raw.  They are who we truly are.  Pain lays bare our heart.  Think about the last time you were in great pain...  how did you react? 


One person who knew about pain was Job.  Job had just about every type of pain imaginable dropped on him all at once.  He lost all of his possessions and wealth, lost his family, lost his health.  His wife turned on him and his friends accused him of sin.  What was Job's  reaction to all of this?  Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Job, being a man of God, turned to God and blessed God.


For a believer, that should be our reaction.  We should always turn to God.  We should when we are healthy too, but that is another lesson.  I spent a good deal of time last night praising God...  amidst a horrible tooth ache.  Oh, those are so nasty.  In the worst of the pain when the world is brought down to one simple element, praise to the Lord will carry you through.  It puts God first and the pain second. 


We may not always know the reasons behind the pain.  god may not reveal that to us.  Also, he may choose to let pain be a companion in our lives as He did with Paul.  We don't know his "thorn in the flesh", but I can assume that it was not always pleasant for Paul to ask for healing 3 times.


Pain humbles us and reminds us of who we are, and that we have an end to this life.  We can have assurance that any pain we feel now is only temporary, for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Pain will be forever for those who are not.  In Christ we are promised a day where there will be no more pain. 

Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.


If you are in pain; turn to Jesus.  I'm not promising you a healing, but a hope.  Those who have believed on Jesus Christ as the son of the living god, who died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day defeating death and ascending up into heaven to be at the right hand of god interceding for us always, will have the hope of a day to come when there will be no more pain of any kind.  This hope will carry you through not just your pain today, but will carry you into an eternity free of pain.