This is the first in what I hope will be a series of practical, helpful guides to going through pain and difficulty in a Christ-centered, God-honouring way.
Now, I want to say right off the bat that the sustaining grace and power of God the Holy Spirit is the only reason that I’m not only still alive, but still retain any measure of sanity. I won’t bore you with the details, but let it suffice for the moment to say that, to quote a former co-worker, “this ain’t my first rodeo, bruh.”
I’d like to begin by quoting the U.S. Army survival manual. It lists three ways to strengthen your ability to withstand pain.
Recognise that pain serves a purpose.
Realize that pain is temporary.
Take pride in your ability to withstand pain.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on them one by one.
First, pain exists for a reason. It exists to alert you to a condition that is harmful to your life, safety, and well-being. A police or fire siren is piercing and shrill. It hurts your ears, even from far away. But it gets your attention, and alerts you to take action, whether that’s to pull off to the side of the road, get your loved ones away from a dangerous area, or to lend a hand during an emergency.
Author and Apologist Ravi Zacharias once told a story about a man with leprosy. He lost all feeling in his limbs. One morning, he awoke to find that to his shock and horror, his hand had been eaten away by vermin. “If only I had been able to feel pain,” he said, “I would still be whole.”
Use pain. Let it get your attention. Let it focus you on what’s important- your relationship with the Lord, good stewardship of His temple (your body), your family, and your community.
Second, pain is temporary. The siren eventually fall silent once peace and order are restored. Even for those who suffer chronic pain from injury, illness, or PTSD, there are days when things are less painful than normal. Suffering gives you tunnel vision, since all the energy that you would normally put into planning for the future, caring for loved ones, and enjoying life are now being diverted to enduring the present torment. You must always remember that all pain is temporary. There may well be painful new realities to which you must adjust, but the human body- and the human spirit- were created by God, and possess a resilience that is nothing short of astounding. You will adjust, you will improve, and you will come through.
I was hospitalized for cancer treatment in September of 2012. I laid in bed for twelve days while I got biopsies, lung tests, and, finally, chemotherapy. There was a lead-up of several months during which we didn’t know what was going wrong, and one of the symptoms was a severe insomnia, so I was at my breaking point. I had an attitude of resignation. “Well, I’ve had a good run, but I’ve got nothing left. I’ll get to rest, and see the Lord soon.” One day I was reading in the Psalms, and I ran across this passage:
“I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
The Holy Spirit used that scripture to renew my failing strength. I began to feel a deep sense of peace about the outcome, and a quiet confidence that I would live. From then on, though the dull, drawn-out misery of chemotherapy lay ahead, my heart found rest in that wonderful promise. “Be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord.”
Third, and last, take pride in your ability to take it.
Christian missionary Amy Carmichael, writing at the turn of the twentieth century, put it this way:
“Manliness is not mere courage; it is the quality of soul which frankly accepts all conditions in human life, and makes it a point of honor not to be dismayed or wearied by them.”
Don’t get hung up on the gender, because I think it applies to both sexes- there is something about someone who endures hardship with patience that serves as an inspiration to the people around them in ways that they themselves don’t always notice. Whether you are at the start of a difficult journey or nearing it’s end, there will always come a day when you can look back and marvel at the things that you’ve been able to endure. And that looking back will begin to form in you that wonderful quality, so readily apparent to everyone around- the quiet dignity of the veteran.
St. Paul tells us that “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Do you see? For we Christians, no suffering is pointless. Our example to others, our faithful obedience in the midst of heartache and pain, and the sculpting of our souls under the chisel and hammer of our older Brother will produce in us the capacity to reflect His radiant glory, not only to a broken and dying world now, but in the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness.
Will you stand with St. Stephen the martyr and hear of his stoning, or St. Paul with his beheading, or St. Andrew with his crooked cross, and have nothing to add but a few parking tickets and a rained-out ballgame?
There’s an old hymn:
“By and by when I look on His face,
Beautiful face, thorn-shadowed face,
By and by when I look on His face,
I’ll wish I had given Him more.”
Beloved, whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re experiencing, you can take it. You’ve already withstood so much. If you’re reading this, you’ve already learned how to make twenty-six squiggly lines into literally every word in the English language. Don’t you remember? That took months- years- and now you can’t even remember what it’s like to not be able to read and write. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, guys, and you will not only be proud at what you’ve endured, but humbled by the lengths to which our Lord has gone to protect and sustain you.
“Wait for the Lord. Be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord.”
