Pain
I came across a thought this past weekend and realized I only had half of the idea. Kind of like when you go to your boss and say “this doesn’t work” and he tells you to go back and come up with a solution instead of just telling him the problem. Pain should not be the arrows we fling at God, the never-ending “why” questions, the shaking of our fists at Him, or the blame-game… but what should it be?
In each of our lives we have experienced psychological pain, like when someone close to us dies or someone else hurts our feelings. However we experience this type of pain we choose whether to ignore it, nurse it, or heal it. In the first two choices, it is easy to be angry or bitter. “I can’t deal with this right now,” or “Why did you let this happen, God!?” Blame can play a big part in our lack of healing.
What if pain is intended to help us build a bridge to God, taking us to the very presence of our Comforter and Healer, becoming a pathway to His grace and healing. Through Christ, the “Bridge Builder,” we can reach the Father. The building of that bridge can be fortified and made stronger if the work is shared with others. When we share our pain with those around us and they feel it for us – come along side us - they are, in a sense, helping us build that bridge. Their prayers for us invite Jesus to intervene and help us build. Jesus will even build the entire thing if we are too broken to even begin.
An answer to our “why” questions may not satisfy our anger and most likely won’t make sense to us anyway. So why not chose another outlet for our pain. Instead of trying to bring down the Creator, try going up to the Healer.
Pain shouldn’t be the arrows we fling at God but the invitation to bridge the gap to His presence.
In each of our lives we have experienced psychological pain, like when someone close to us dies or someone else hurts our feelings. However we experience this type of pain we choose whether to ignore it, nurse it, or heal it. In the first two choices, it is easy to be angry or bitter. “I can’t deal with this right now,” or “Why did you let this happen, God!?” Blame can play a big part in our lack of healing.
What if pain is intended to help us build a bridge to God, taking us to the very presence of our Comforter and Healer, becoming a pathway to His grace and healing. Through Christ, the “Bridge Builder,” we can reach the Father. The building of that bridge can be fortified and made stronger if the work is shared with others. When we share our pain with those around us and they feel it for us – come along side us - they are, in a sense, helping us build that bridge. Their prayers for us invite Jesus to intervene and help us build. Jesus will even build the entire thing if we are too broken to even begin.
An answer to our “why” questions may not satisfy our anger and most likely won’t make sense to us anyway. So why not chose another outlet for our pain. Instead of trying to bring down the Creator, try going up to the Healer.
Pain shouldn’t be the arrows we fling at God but the invitation to bridge the gap to His presence.
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