Pain

Sometimes I cry so hard that I get somewhat of a euphoric feeling when it is all over.  Pain; it is an endless tragedy of life that we are forced to deal with.  We cannot escape it.  Even in our worldly and man-made “escapes;” it always creeps back up on us.  Right when you think you have experienced the most pain of your life, something else happens that tops the last experience of pain.  Worse, we grow tolerant to our usual way of “escape” and those pain remedies that once worked; no longer work as well or perhaps not at all. 

“Never judge a book by its cover” is a well fitted quote for most of our lives.  For instance, I am one of those people who smile when I am sad and pretend things are alright when they are not.  It reminds me of the show “desperate housewives,” which is a total guilty pleasure for me!   If you are unfamiliar with the show, it is about a town where everything appears to be perfect, but terrible things are always happening behind the scenes.  This is not much different from all of our lives.  We mask our pain because we fear man.  We all have different fears and reasons why we hide our struggles; but we all do it.  Typically, we don’t want people to judge us, feel sorry for us, or we fear they will not understand. 

As I have said in previous posts; I deal with chronic migraines on a daily basis that affect every area of my life.  If you have ever dealt with a chronic illness or have walked a loved one through it; you understand the not only physical, but emotional, mental, and spiritual impact it has on your life.  It is exhausting in every way.  Frequent medical bills only add to the stress and stress adds to the pain.  Chronic pain (emotional, mental, physical) is an ongoing struggle that deeply traumatized the lives of those suffering and the sufferers loved ones.

I am convinced that all people suffer with some sort of ongoing pain in their lives.  It may not be physical.  It may not even be within you.  Your suffering could be someone elses suffering.  Either way, we all deal with it.  The Apostle Paul talks about how he begged God to take away “the thorn in his flesh,” but God did not.  He told Paul that His grace was sufficient for Paul and that in Paul’s weakness God would be strong.  We do not know what this “thorn in his side” was, but some Bible scholars think it could have been migraines.  If so, I relate!  I have prayed continuously that God would heal me and I have faith that someday He will, but for now I have to rely on His grace to get through each day.  I have to remember that there is a reason God is allowing me to go through this and that He has promised to be strong when I am weak. 

Though pain in this life really sucks; as Christians, we have to remember that we are only passing through this earth and our eternal home is in heaven where pain does not exist!  The Bible says that when we go to heaven God will wipe away every tear from our eyes; what a euphoric moment that will be!  Our hope is not in this earth or man-made remedies for pain (though they can help for a while); our ultimate hope to overcome pain’s hold on our lives is Jesus Christ!  He is the one that died for our sins so that we could accept Him and go to heaven where all pain and struggle will diminish.

We are mere humans.  We deal with pain the best way we know how.  We must go easy on ourselves.  Find friends and family we trust to share our struggles with.  Chances are they will relate somehow.  Put your fears aside.  When we no longer fear pain, we are free to stand through the pain, knowing that soon; it will all be over!