Pain can make us stronger or weaker, it’s our choice.

I am certain that I never did grow in grace one-half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain. ~ Charles Spurgeon

Pain is an interesting thing. It drives people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Pain is the reason people stay addicted. It’s the reason people relapse. Pain causes people to harm themselves or others. It’s the reason there are so many pharmaceutical drugs that people take whether for physical or emotional reasons. Our natural instinct is to avoid pain. We want to live a comfortable life without pain or the threat of pain. We fashion our lives accordingly. We have air conditioned homes because being too hot or cold is painful. We drive cars because walking miles on end would become painful. We see psychiatrists and they prescribe us medication to help us numb our emotions so we don’t have to deal with the pain.

Pain causes us to seek out revenge and to make someone else hurt just as bad as we do. The problem is hurting someone else will never fix our pain. Seeking out healing through destruction is about as backwards as you can get! I’ve been there before. I’ve wanted to hurt those who brought some major pain to my life. Honestly, some days I still do but I’ve learned to release and forgive. I’ve learned a lot about pain over the last year and a half and I’ve discovered that pain has grown me as a man, as a future spouse, as a father, as a minister, and as a leader. I love that Charles Spurgeon quote. The bed of pain has grown me immensely. Not because of just the pain but because I dealt with the pain correctly.

This is where most people get into trouble. They don’t deal with pain correctly. We try and numb the pain through illicit sex, drugs, alcohol, eating, cutting, shopping, etc. and we find ourselves in even more pain than when we first started down that journey of self-medication. I’ve learned over the years that the best way to deal with pain is head on. To feel the pain in all it’s weight and darkness. To allow the pain to penetrate every part of us. It’s like a child getting a shot or taking medicine, the initial shock of the pain is awful but on the other side of the pain is great healing and health. When we truly feel the pain, we then have the opportunity to process the pain. Pain is an indicator that something is wrong and it can’t be fixed by another band-aid, it must be dealt with. This is where people find freedom from all kinds of addiction. They deal with what causes them the pain.

yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. – 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NIV

There is a power in pain that can drive us to Jesus. The apostle Paul is discipling us in this area of pain. We must identify the cause of the pain that we feel in our life. Maybe someone hurt us, maybe it was self-inflicted but regardless we can take that pain to God and He can heal us. Sometimes the healing is instant and sometimes it is through a process but regardless God is a healer and He wants to heal you. God wants to be the One you run to. When, not if, but when you experience pain, feel it, process it, and then release it. Don’t live with pain! Give it to God. When those thoughts come up of the experience that hurt you, immediately release it to God and speak over your life that you are healed!

When you get into this habit of releasing and speaking, then God’s word and promise of healing does it’s perfect work in you. Our life will never be pain-free but we don’t have to live with pain in our souls anymore. I proclaim this week, as you step into the Christmas season, that you will not experience pain in any area of your life but you will experience healing and wholeness in your soul, in your relationships, in your finances, and every area of your life. You will be healed in order to bring healing to others!

[divider style=”1″ align=”center” size=”normal” variant=”normal” dimension=”1px” color=”” scrolltext=””][/divider]

Please leave your thoughts if you feel led and let’s continue the conversation! May God bless you!