I had this pain in my lower back that started a few days ago. I was managing the pain through the various pain suppressants that was available but I woke up this morning and the pain was telling me it wasn’t going away until I sorted it out. I started by trying to call an emergency number for a chiropractor that I had used before but it was Saturday and their office was closed. I called Jennifer, God bless her, and she managed to fit me in straight away. I was so thankful because by now I couldn’t sit, stand or lie down without feeling some kind of pain or discomfort.
While I was getting ready to go I asked the Lord to show me what I did to trigger it off and he told me it was being at the dentist. Now before you go and cancel your dental appointment here me out. I had three dental appointments within the course of one week. I had my hygienist, my annual dental check up and some other work. If you know me anything to do with dentists makes me tense up really bad. The problem came from the length of time I had sat there tensed up which had caused my muscles to lock up. The pain wasn’t strong enough to take any notice of it so I had ignored it needless to say the pain intensified and began to travel down the left side of my body and by the time it had my full attention the whole of my left side was in agony. It was while I was in this pain that I thought about writing this message because pain really can be a gift to tell us something is wrong. To let us know that we had better go and check it out or get some professional help. Most of us, if the pain is not too severe ignore it, but pain has a voice and it’s the voice of our bodies that keeps shouting to get our attention before it gets too serious.
Physical pain is not the only pain we experience, there is the emotional pain of being heart broken, rejected, losing a loved one. There is one thing that we first need to establish and that is God isn’t the Author of pain. The world He created was a world without pain, a paradise where the word suffering wasn’t in the dictionary. The new earth will be a pain-free paradise.
The experience of relentless, unending pain was not designed by heaven; it invaded our lives from another agency. Revelation 21:4 says; 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. All of these things death, sorrow, crying are all associated with pain but God is promising us in the new heaven that we will never have to experience any pain every again.
Jesus also explains in John 10:10 that there is a thief out there lurking in the darkness who wants to kill, steal, destroy and to bring pain. But then He adds this: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” No, our pain doesn’t come from God. True, pain can turn out to be a blessing; it can even be a lifesaver. But it isn’t heaven’s invention. Some perhaps would beg to differ that pain really is a gift. We live in a world that makes a fortune on painkillers for just about anything, we live in a society that refuses pain so we will pump our bodies full of medication rather than deal with the pain.
Pain is simply a symptom not the actual problem for without pain, we may never realize that something is wrong.' Look at this in Luke 5:12-16; "And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." "And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him." "And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities." "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed."
The Disease of leprosy
It is insidious in it’s beginning. Just a mere spot, slightly tender to the touch but with time that would change. The small specks would begin on the eyelids, on the palms of the hands, and gradually spread over to cover the entire body. The hair would bleach white. Crusty scales would soon envelope the affected spots. The joints would begin to swell and the swelling would gradually erupt into sores. The small nodules would soon deteriorate and leave a foul discharge. From the surface the leprosy would eat it’s way to the inner tissues. Skipping nothing it would venture into the fatty tissue, work on through the muscle, and finally devastate the bones. The nerve tissue was such that it no longer had the ability to sense the pain stimulus. Because of the absence of pain, the leper would find that fingers, toes, even limbs would have to endure horrible trauma without being able to feel. Without the feeling, the leper would extend his injuries never realizing the damage that was occurring. The lungs, the eyes, the nose and throat were not left immune to this horrible disease. They too had to endure the debilitations of the disease.
The Law stated that the leper was unclean. Because of his unclean state, the leper could not live in the walled cities with others. He had to live beyond the reaches of men, beyond the reaches of compassion, beyond the reaches of joy, beyond the reaches of love.
Pain can serve a definite purpose in our lives. Leprosy patients lose their fingers and toes, not because the disease can cause the decay, but because they cannot feel the pain. Nothing warns them when the water is too hot. Accidental self-abuse is what destroys the leper.
We have no way of knowing what state that this particular leper in our passage of scripture was in. He could have been in the very early stages of the disease or he could have been in the final stages. Regardless, of what stage that he was in, he needed help. He came to Jesus, hoping for a miracle.
I am speaking to people who live with pain. Perhaps it is a particular pain that you have lived with for a long time. As time has passed you have been able to scar it over and maybe it does not hurt as bad as it used to but it is still there. There are particular things that we live with that have the ability to intensify our pain whether it’s physical or emotional. There is pain that drugs or man-made remedy can relieve,
but the only hope of permanent relief is found in Jesus.
The reality is that God does feel our suffering and our pain. He is not the Author of our anguish, but He is present with us as we struggle and hold on to our faith. In the book of Daniel, where the three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fiery furnace, that wasn’t God’s fire. He didn’t light it or stoke the flames. But in that terrible moment, He was there with His three children.
Whatever pain you are in today, it was never God’s plan for your life, but know that God is there with you to comfort and strengthen you. He is not the one causing the pain in our world, yet He is present with us during our moments of deepest sorrow to heal and make us whole.
Isaiah 53:3-5 says; He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Whatever pain, grief or sorrow that you are facing today you need to reach for Jesus for He is the only one through whom you will experience true healing, comfort and peace.
- Are you in pain?
- Are you are going through a painful divorce?
- Have you lost a loved one?
- Have you lost your job or money?
As a child of God are not alone because God with you. So no matter what you are going through, God has given you a Comforter to help you.
Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do...
No, I will not abandon you as orphans - I will come to you." John 14:16-18.
There are two things that you must not do when you are hurting:
- Don't blame God for your negative circumstances. Only goodness and kindness comes from God's hand to you. Satan will lie to you and try to manipulate you against God by telling you that God did it to you. God is not to blame for your pain or for your circumstances.
- Don't throw away your faith. Your belief in God is a benefit to you. If you ever needed your faith to work for you, now is the time. Prayer, do bible study, worship and seeking Godly counsel.
It's going to be ok because God has everything in control.
"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4
“Whatever pain, grief or sorrow that you are facing today you need to reach for Jesus for He is the only one through whom you will experience true healing, comfort and peace.”
Pastor Erica Goodman