Too Much Pain?

One of the most powerful acts of love and sovereignty Jesus demonstrates in His three short years was healing.  Massive crowds resulted from His grace, touch, and miraculous power--so much so that they often threatened to crush Jesus.  To say healing in Jesus' ministry was important is an understatement.

That healing power continues to be a focal point for our faith relationships yet today.  We continue to praise and seek God in part because of this power and His promise to heal and relieve our pain, worry, stress, anxiety, and discomfort.  We cling to Peter's words in his letter and to Paul's in many of his letters encouraging us to embrace our pain and know that it will be healed for God's glory.  These words and encouragement truly resonate with us in our current time.

Yet, today I dare to ask the question, how much pain is too much ?  I love listening to K-Love and other Christians stations as I drive--especially because my CD player is toast!  However, the other day on a longer drive I noticed a consistent theme in the lineup of songs:  pain--pain of living, pain of losing, pain of stress and disappointment, etc.  I do understand how difficult our lives can be and how much stress we often carry on our shoulders.  And it will ALWAYS be a crucial part of our worship and praise as we exalt God's healing strength.

However, I'm concerned we may be making too much of our pain--that our tolerance continues to erode to the point that anything outside of what we consider intended, anticipated, likely, favorable, predicable, desirable, or pleasant becomes a significant source of "pain" in our lives.  We make jokes about "1st-world" problems and the moans of entitled whiners because of this syndrome.  In fact, it's at this point that we begin to make pain an idol.  We sing about it, we focus on it, we make everything about Sunday morning and our practices of seeking God and praying to Him mostly about relieving our pain and the pain of others.  We've become so obsessed with pain we often neglect any other aspects of our faith, of who God is, or of what God wants for our lives.  It's just like an itch or rash--the more we scratch and pay homage, the greater of a "thing" it becomes.

So today I encourage each of us to take a reality check regarding our own worship of pain.  How focused are we on it?  How often do the stories and reports of our pain get shared with others?  How often do we allow ourselves to feel pained on a daily basis by the inconveniences of life?

It may sound rough, but maybe God's inviting us each today to "get over it," to quit letting that be the only thing that we focus on, and to toughen up a bit.  Christ is our strength so that we may withstand more, not so that we have no strength on our own.  Here's to His gift of freedom in our lives today!





More to come!

Jason <><