Pain

John 16:21, "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come, but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world."

Pain (not to be confused with torment)... what a topic..

In passing I asked, What is pain? And in response to myself I wrote, "pain seems a whole lot worse when you are between glories than it does retrospectively standing in the glory. And in fact, the pain of your experience is not painful to me at all. So does that mean the experience is not the source of the pain? Yep... that is what it means."

I now debate myself in light of the scripture. Is pain something apart from the experience? Certainly pain only belongs to the beholder. Certainly a single experience can cause pain to multiple parties. So I am wrong in saying the experience is not the source of the pain. The experience is the source of the pain. But the pain becomes beautiful in light of the results of the experience, and if that experience is orchestrated by God.

Jesus was not talking about physical birth the this scripture. He was talking about spiritual birth, about the birth of Him in us, of God's kingdom in us. He was talking about the glory that follows the transformation being able to erase the memories of the pain.

What other instances of pain produce glorious results? Physically a massage can be painful on the knots in the muscles, but oh so relieving when it's done. A workout can bring pain the following days when done effectively. How about growing pains... do you remember the leg pain as a child? To win athletes have to often ignore the pain. So pain can be ignored as well.

I think about my writings, how many were born out of pain? Christ salvation for the world... the ultimate in pain yielding something great. So pain, when suffered at the birth of something new and godly in us is a good thing.

Pain in the context of transformation is a good thing. It is not good in the sense that it can easily be ignored, or is enjoyable. But it is a necessary reminder that we are alive. It is a necessary call to action, that action being allow God to do His work or to hide further in the darkness. Pain is the call to be hot or cold. Sometimes the prescription of pain is to forgive someone. Sometimes the prescription is to change course. Other times there is no prescription for the pain, there is no relief. In those cases, there most often is a way to embrace the pain. There is a way to focus on the joy of the transformation and the other side.

Today's music selection is not a reflection of the bands standing with God. But it says so much about pain. About how pain is better than being numb. Give me pain, rather than nothing at all. Happiness is not a cure for pain. (not to be confused with joy) But unlike the song... this pain I am speaking of is not "without love" but because of God's love. Of their experiences in this area, the band writes this on their website, "We’ve all had to confront death on a few different levels, and we’ve had family go through some health-related things, so, for us, Life Starts Now reflects that feeling of redefining what life is and what it means to be alive after you hit rock bottom.”

The pain is a opportunity for us all to redefine life and living with God's definition. 

Glory

2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

My mother mentioned a teaching she heard from Paul Manwring on the Glory of God. Excited she offered me a CD of the message, but I don't really have any way to play a CD in an era of MP3's and iPods. I searched online for a podcast of the message, but to no avail. I did find his book What on Earth is Glory? available through amazon, but haven't purchased it. But her enthusiasm about it got me thinking. Perhaps thinking not in the direction my mother is thinking, but thinking none the less.

I was thinking that if we "are being transformed into the same image (Christ) from glory to glory." That the time between the glories really sux. I guess Paul in so many words was saying that the space between one glory to the other is the period of transformation. And as we all know, transformation is most often accompanied with some sort of discomfort. A discomfort we have come to know as PAIN! But what is glory?

Paul Manwaring apparently has a great teaching which I have not heard, so I rely on the Holy Spirit for explanation. We know that glory can be a form of praise that we can "give" to God. We know Moses asked to see it, so it is something more than words of adoration. The saved receive a crown of glory. And we know that to the "degree that you share the sufferings of Christ... so that at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice..." So without going into a gigantic theological study... glory, at least the glory of God, is a tangible manifestation of God's accomplishments, His power, His successes. It is not only His trophy if you will, but it is a living trophy that when man observes, he sees the experiences associated with the glory. I see it as a train, a giant, ever growing, radiant cape or robe that when in view, it will draw the viewer into the majesty of the accomplishments of God.

Isaiah 6:1, "In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple." The train of His robe is how I define glory.

So we walk out our Christianity, or work it out as Paul wrote to the Philippians, bringing to bear the cross of Christ onto our ego. It is painful. (or is it... more on that later) The cross bears down and when that little piece of transformation is complete, we look back and see a revelation of Christ. We see the proverbial train of His robe and the accomplishment it represents.

And what of this pain? What of the suffering to the degree of the revelation of His glory? This much I know... the pain seems a whole lot worse when you are between glories than it does retrospectively standing in the glory. And in fact, the pain of your experience is not painful to me at all. So does that mean the experience is not the source of the pain? Yep... that is what it means. Perhaps we can explore pain on another day.

But the glory of God is real. It is like light which is both energy and particle. Hard to understand, but the glory of God is a tangible manifestation of His accomplishments and when it is visible, no other accomplishments compare.