Life Is More Than Pain -- And Avoiding It

Pain alone can be a bad thing.

A signal that we need to change what we are thinking or doing in our lives.

Pain can also be a signal of growth, that old ideas, habits, and customs must give way to better habits, greater opportunities, different directions.

"Self-help" programs and counseling seem dedicated to getting people to stop feeling pain.

Get away from hurt, discomfort, and other setbacks.

The life of Christ in us is not a life of running from pain, but recognizing his grace and majesty in our lives despite the pain, the trials, and the hardships of this life.

A few days ago, I realized that pain is not something to run from, or to beg God to take away.

Pain is an opportunity for us to come boldly to the throne of grace, because pain signals that we are in a time of need.

For years, I tried to fix my feelings, convinced that how I felt was blocking His love for me.

The Bible is crystal about God's love for us:

"38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 38-39)

If we approach God from a perspective that we are separated, we are not operating according to the truth.

"2Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John 2-4)

Walking in the truth is crucial to our prosperity.

How can anyone prosper if they believe that they are not one with God in Christ?

If we still believe that His Work at the Cross is not enough, then we dishonoring His sacrifice.

Pain, then, in some ways manifests that we are not walking according to the truth of the Gospel, that in Christ we are forgiven of all our sins.

The last few weeks, I felt incredible pain in my head, in the back and the front.

Instead of fearing that God was far away, though, I recognized that no matter how I felt, He loved  me perfectly and unconditionally.

He loves me perfectly and unconditionally.

He loves me as much as He loves Jesus. Much of this information is more than I can take.

My understanding of Jesus Christ was too small, mixed with legalism and tradition, corrupted by the corrosive, evil influence of AA.

For too long, I panicked about my feelings, trying to make sure that I never felt bad, that I was no angry or fearful. Crazy but true, I believed that how I felt determined whether God loved me or not.

That is a lie, and that is a lie which today I need never be in bondage to every again.

And any time that I feel pain, I have no fear, because I know that my life is not wrapped up in what I feel, nor is His love for me impacted by those feelings, either.