Thursday, March 01, 2012

Pain

I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me (Psalm 69:29).

Pain. There is nothing worse than dealing with pain. Severe, mind-numbing pain is awful to experience. A persistent nagging pain can wear you down both physically and mentally. And then there’s emotional pain. The horrible agony of betrayal. The dull ache of being constantly alone. Pain, in all its forms, is something that cripples us.

People go to great lengths to avoid pain. When it comes to physical discomfort, some will go so far as to overdose on pain medication or get hold of powerful drugs by dishonest means. When it comes to emotional pain, some will back away from friendships and intimacy out of concern for getting hurt. Just the fear of pain can rob you of peace and security.

We are blessed with all sorts of advances in pain management. New treatments for physical ailments become available every year. When it comes to emotional pain, there are counselors and psychiatrists, not to mention a boatload of self-help books. And yet, despite all these resources, there are still times when you experience pain and nothing seems to help.

Pain is part of every life, and much of that pain is inescapable. So how do you cope with it? Do you spend your time getting drunk or high as a way to ignore the pain? Do you throw yourself into some project with such intensity that the ache is shoved to the side? Or do you just give up and look for a way to end the pain once and for all?

Jesus understands your pain. When He was beaten, ridiculed, and nailed to the cross, the Son of God went through a combination of physical and mental torment that you and I cannot begin to comprehend. But that suffering had a purpose. Christ endured the punishment that we deserve for speaking hurtful words, for causing injury through our actions and our failure to act. Jesus suffered in our place so that we might be forgiven and rest securely in God’s loving arms. The LORD supports us when we hurt, cradles us in His arms and soothes our worries about how we will make it through another day, another hour, another minute of pain. And because Jesus rose from the grave, we are promised our own resurrection to a life where pain will never steal our happiness again.

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