By Recently, a dichotomy has occurred to me between the lives that we lead on a daily basis and what many of us dream our daily lives should be.
Many of us live a daily life with struggles and pain. This pain could be physical pain from an injury, arthritis, or infection. Chronic pain of the bones, joints, head and abdomen have become a major health care cost in the United States. An estimated $500 billion each year is spent by Americans on chronic pain which exceeds the costs associated with cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
In addition to physical pain, psychological and emotional pain from loneliness, depression, isolation, and rejection are also painful experiences.
We often turn to societal measures to heal us and to decrease our pain. Our society teaches us to strive for a life without pain – through pharmaceutical advertisements, medical treatments, social media, music, television shows and movies.
This is our day, each and every day in this broken world. If any of us suffer, we likely look for a better tomorrow.
Since we live our daily lives one way and are told our lives can be 100% different, we strive to reach this pain free life. Unfortunately, many (too many) people feel more pain when they are not able to reach this utopia. Through frustration and depression, many (too many) people turn to substance abuse, elicit drugs, and alcohol. When these substances do not solve their pain, many (too many) people hurt themselves more, and some commit suicide.
When living life this way we do not demonstrate faith of God as the ultimate healer. Jesus’ healing power was shown:
“And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.”
Luke 6:19
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus healed people from diseases, blindness, paralysis, leprosy and the ailments. Our faith may be tested, challenged, or built through our pain and suffering. When faced with distress, become challenged to the opportunity to build your faith by turning to God.
Take time during this first full week in the New Year to restore your faith in God’s healing process. Take time to help your family and friends to build their faith in God’s healing grace.
For some, this may mean recognizing blessings even in the suffering; increasing your trust that the healing is in God’s hands; seeking support from others through a Care Group; and praying for healing and miracles with others. Community is important to Christians, so share with others experiences of being blessed through God’s grace and healing.
Great thoughts. What if the point isn’t to go through life trying to avoid as much pain as possible, viewing pain as the enemy, but rather to seek to press into God and let him use the pain to transform us?
This hits home for me a lot, and I appreciate the encouragement to see pain as a necessary part of life that can be endured and used as a tool rather than something to deal with and avoid at all costs. You are also right that the more we view pain as an absolute evil to be avoided and dealt with as quickly as possible, the more discouraged and desperate we become when we cannot erase that pain or it keeps coming back. And nobody can truly escape pain in this life–so why not seek to view it as a grace insomuch as it causes us to rely on Christ?