Pain is not the enemy. Comfort is not your friend. I wish I could remember now where I read these ideas. (Maybe some of you can identify the source.) They’ve begun to echo in my mind in recent days and I’ve decided it is time I learn to make friends with pain. It’s seems counter-intuitive and upside down. It is! In fact it is also extremely biblical.
Perhaps it was the 80’s that destroyed this truth in me. Maybe it’s the fault of the American dream. Maybe it was Spock and his “live long and prosper” nonsense or a hundred TV preachers wooing me toward my “double portion.” Sirens, every one of them.
At some point I decided that comfort was God’s will for my life and pain therefore was obviously outside of His will. In fact to be honest, I decided that God would never want me or my family or friends to experience pain so when pain has arrived, when tragedy made its surprise introduction, my heart immediately began to doubt God.
But Pain is not the enemy! Comfort is not your friend! Take a moment to open a Bible and read 1 Peter 1:3-9. (I know your inclination is to just keep reading and ignore the Bible, but come on…comfort is not your friend…go get a Bible and stretch yourself a bit). Our “new birth into a living hope” was accomplished through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. The path to hope was a painful one. Peter suggests that the pain we face is refining us, purifying us, shaping us.
Maybe you’re like me and have developed a very low tolerance for pain. Maybe you have little stomach for discomfort. Remember this: the power of the One Most High God is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). So when pain surprises you with a visit, open your door, extend your hand. Make friends with pain.
