One of the most epic battles in the Bible I believe happened between Jacob and God. You can read the full story in Chapter 32 in Genesis.
During this confrontation, Jacob was struck by a "man" in the hip, and from there on, Jacob could not walk normally; his ability to run was compromised. Jacob, a man that had been running from trouble all his life, was no longer capable of moving with freedom because of the pain caused by this injury. I laughed while I read this story, because it has so many similarities to what happens to so many of us. Just as Jacob, we become very skillful at avoiding trouble; we have learned to run our way out of pain and discomfort. We are always looking for a shortcut to reach our goals faster, even if that means not being fully honest.
Jacob's life however, changed because of pain. Jacob told the "man" that he was not going to let him go unless he blessed him. During this encounter with this "man" Jacob was afraid of what was going to happen to him. He was afraid for his life and afraid for his family and his future. Jacob's desperation for answers placed him in a position where he was willing to risk even his own life in exchange for a blessing from God. Jacob had come to realize that running was not longer an option. He needed not a change in circumstances but a change in his heart; he needed to be transformed. And it took pain to do it.
Our bodies have been wonderfully made to sense when we're at risk of danger and to avoid pain. And the messages our body uses to let us know to avoid these dangers is pain. When something hurts, we make everything possible to keep safe that injured toe or whatever it is. We learn to hide feelings and emotions that cause us pain. If we feel insecure, we pretend we are brave. If we think we are weak, we become abusive. We learn to hide and to protect our weak areas by putting thick bandages on anything that hurts.
When something hurts, that pain pushes us to make adjustments to our daily routines. Likewise, the internal pain we suffer when others despise us, when people we love hurts us, when we are insulted, and even when we are suffering the consequences of our rebelliousness makes us want to change.
Pain is a messenger of God. It tells us when change is a must. Pain tells us when certain activities or behaviors will hurt us before our condition worsens. To not obey what our body or our heart is telling amounts to self-destruction.
Leprosy and some other diseases that may affect the ability of the body to feel pain are terrible because when pain disappears, with it disappears the concern for healing. These diseases that affects the nervous system make people slowly lose the ability to feel pain until they reach a point that they do not feel pain anymore. Because they no longer feel pain, they become neglectful of their infection.
When you break a leg or an arm and you don’t feel pain, those limbs will fuse again in a deformed way, becoming almost unrecognizable from what they looked before. Can you see the great importance of pain?
The pain that we despise is a messenger of God; it helps us to preserve our lives.
Let us not try to avoid pain, but rather than focusing on the pain, let us focus on the Healer. There will always be people who we will not be able to please under any circumstances. There will often be those who always have something negative to say about us. But when we are suffering pain for not following God's direction, it is time not for Band-Aids but for change and a decision to obey.
What hurts you? Have you been putting Band-Aids over deep wounds? Have you lost sensitivity to the voice of God? Have you have stopped listening to that loud voice of your spirit that longs for a deeper relationship with God?
If you feel a general sense of pain but can't identify the root of it, you need to present this pain to God and pray for healing. Many who have suffered through life have lost the ability to identify where it hurts, and they often feel like the living dead without purpose or desires. God can restore that ability to love again, to feel, to mourn. Do not despise the messenger (pain) - listen to what it wants to say.
Union City Corps
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