Pain Fades

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.”

Have you ever considered how the memories of pain fade?

I consider it all the time, for example why did I eat those chili peppers again knowing that 8 to 12 hours of pain is going to follow? Why does my body, still years later, crave tobacco knowing the weeks of pain I endured to quit? Why did God make it so that pain would fade?

Some pain comes with a social stigma attached that more often than not build a wall of protection or shield of denial so that the pain is avoided again. Some pain comes from learning and common sense protects us from touching fire or the hot stove for a second time. Addicts remember the pain and burdens they have felt and caused, but somehow those pains fade too much, and the lure of some pleasure overrides them time and time again.

Failure can be an awful pain that delivers its sting time and time again year after year. But so very quickly fades with even a little success. Rejection is no pain at all, but for our mind magnifies and complicates it into some of the worse pains of all. Being rejected by one when there are four billion others truly is unworthy of irritation, unless of course that rejection is a father, or mother, or sibling, or object of affection, target of greed. Lack is painful, but live in it long enough that pain too fades.

Pain shapes us, and if we will allow it speaks volumes to those areas of our soul out of touch with God. Always two directions to pain… away from God… or into it with God… to share in Christ’s rejection, lack, physical harm, cravings. To share in His overcoming… to share in the pain of the cross that has long since faded even in His memory.

“Therefore you too have grief now: but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22) Because you will be impervious to pain. You will have joy knowing that in the pain you have the opportunity become more like Christ. You will remember that pain so quickly fades. You will see Christ with you in the pain. “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.” (John 16:23) He will give it to you not to because it will change the situation. He will give it not because it will remove the pain. But He will give it because you did not question His decision to have you share in Jesus’ pain. He will give it because you see the Father and what He is doing, and in that you see His will, and You ask because He is asking you to ask.

The lesson of the fading pain is dependence upon God, and in knowing that in all the pain He is birthing in us the character of Christ. Sit in it, without question, but rather look to see Jesus in it so that your heart might rejoice. 

Soul Pain

2 Corinthians 4:17, "For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comprehension."

There is a physical pain that comes from nakedness, being shelter-less, starvation, disease, and other inhumanities. These pains must be dealt with immediately by those closest, and exposed to the need. This is the lesson of the good Samaritan.

But there is a whole other kind of pain that comes with death, burial, and resurrection of the soul. There is a pain associated with surrender, which is nothing more than laying down your own ideas, abilities, and thoughts to be in absolute obedience to God regardless of effort, outcome, pleasure, or pain. This pain of the soul, this pain of having character transformed, is not something to be cured or fixed by the outsider. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the shaping of the Potter's wheel.

Soul pain is momentary and light, though in the moment it seems insurmountable and crushing. But this pain is what forces us to confront that character in us that is not Christ. It is the pain of our soul being out of integrity with the spirit. It is the wake up call that something is wrong, and it is the ache that something is growing. Namely us as vessels of Christ. Soul pain is the stretching of the wine skin as the new wine ferments and is being prepared to be poured out.

This pain in not anyone's fault, and is not curable unless the cause, namely otherness from Christ, is uprooted from the soul and allowed to die. As George said the other day in Love Machine, "You have to feel your own pain, and get to the place you just hurt." Hurting without blame is one of the first steps to finding that joy of the soul that will either cure the pain, or allow the individual to endure it.

The point is that we as loving, caring, Christians have to learn to listen more and talk less. We have to be with people in their pain of the soul, but not rescue them. This pain is not a place for advice, because advice covers up, advice builds walls, it is man's solution to a God problem.

I might go a little farther and say that if a person does not share the same experience of the soul, advice is always the wrong thing. For example, I cannot advise the soul of a widower having never overcome that myself. I cannot advise the soul of a drug addict having never been one myself. But I can advise the soul of a childhood sexual abuse victim. I can advise the soul of the bankrupt, the divorced, the cheated on, etc. This is advice I can give because these are areas that I have an abundance of God in my heart for.

Soul pain is like birth pain. It is unavoidable. It is largely untreatable. And it will cease shortly after the birth is accomplished. Like an epidural... if treated it only prolongs the process.

So for those of you experiencing the pain deep in your soul, God will complete His work, and your pain will be looked back on as momentary light affliction.

For those who know someone giving birth in their soul... just be there, take the heat, wipe away the sweat and tears, but unless you have birthed the same thing in your soul, it is best to keep your advice to yourself. If you have birthed the same thing, then most often you will understand there is no advice that would help anyway.

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.