Whenever I’m asked by medical personnel if I’m allergic to anything I answer, “Just pain.”
They typically respond with an indulgent smile and proceed with their test, examination or treatment. I’m not allergic to pain, but I try to avoid it – unsuccessfully.
Pain is a part of all of our lives and the adage that you can run, but you can’t hide is applicable to pain – its impact is universal and ongoing. Pain can be physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual. To complicate matters, it may be a combination of the above or sometimes simply inexplicable.
Pain is functional as it communicates injury, illness or infection and in turn we are able to take steps to remedy the problem. But pain is not good in and of itself. I believe the adage “no pain no gain” has serious limitations and enduring pain needlessly is not meritorious.
King Aengus suffered unnecessarily when being baptized by St. Patrick. During the baptism, Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff stabbing the king’s foot. Following the baptism Patrick noticed the king’s bloody foot. Realizing what he’d done, he begged for forgiveness and asked, “Why did you suffer this pain in silence?” The king replied, “I thought it was part of the ritual.”
As aforementioned, pain is functional, but it can also result in joy. Childbirth is accompanied by significant pain, but immeasurable joy follows the safe delivery of the baby.
The agony of Christ on Calvary’s cross is the superlative example. The pain and sacrifice of a sinless Savior provided salvation for a sinful race. “He made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
C.S. Lewis in his book The Problem of Pain, attempted to provide an intellectual Christian response to the question of human suffering. He wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
William Sangster heard this “megaphone” when was told he was dying of painful muscular atrophy. His response is our example. He accepted the pain and turned toward God. He wrote and faithfully kept the following resolutions. 1) I will never complain; 2) I will keep the home bright; 3) I will thank God for my blessings; 4) I will try to turn it to gain.
God doesn’t delight in our pain, but He can speak to us in it – our response and attitude will determine the outcome.
— Pastor Ross Helgeton is senior pastor at Erskine Evangelical Free Church
