From Pain to Power: Dealing with Pain Victoriously

Isaiah 53:3,5 Jesus is acquainted with pain and griefs: He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…and by his wounds we are healed. What is pain? 1. The physical feeling caused by disease, injury, or something that hurts the body 2. Mental or emotional suffering: sadness caused by some emotional or mental problem 3. Someone or something that causes trouble or makes you feel annoyed or angry 4. Physical pain, in its simplest form, is a warning mechanism that helps protect an organism by influencing it to withdraw from harmful stimuli (such as fire). Parallels of physical pain to “life-pain” Physical suffering associated with a bodily disorder (such as a disease or injury) and accompanied by mental or emotional distress. Pain avoidance can lead to self-destructive behaviors. The most potent pain-relieving drugs are opium and morphine also happen to be the most addictive. We have something called “Pain receptors.” These are found in the skin and other tissues, are nerve fibres that react to mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. Pain impulses enter the spinal cord and are transmitted to the brain stem and thalamus. Life-pain receptors are not physical. Emotional or mental pain is difficult to define. The perception of physical pain is highly variable among individuals. Just as people have high and low thresholds of physical pain, They also have high and low thresholds of life-pain. Some people feel pain if someone does not say “hello” to them. Some people, like me, would not feel pain if you called me “stupid.” Now I certainly wouldn’t be running around with anyone who called me stupid, but it would not stop me from doing anything I’ve been doing. And this is the main issue when experiencing “life-pain”: What stops you from doing what you are supposed to do? While the physical pain mechanism wants to influence you to withdraw or protect yourself, life-pain, such as emotional pain, should be addressed, not avoided. From Pastor Joel Brooks: Some of us have way too high of a tolerance for pain. Pain is not the enemy, but evidence that one exists. Pain is a message to you that: 1) something in your life is out of place. 2) something or someone is in your life that shouldn't be there. 1 Peter 2:20, For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 3) something in your life is under attack 4) You are being tempted. The problem is that we tend to treat the pain rather than the cause, thus allowing the source of the pain to remain in our lives way too long. Jesus bore your pains and so know that the pain you feel (whether in your body or in your heart) is not something you were meant to live with but simply a signal to you of an area in your life that needs attention. Pain is telling you something needs to be adjusted, removed, or resisted. Decide today to lower your tolerance for pain. James 4:7 "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" Keys to dealing with life-pain: 1. Don’t deny the pain. Don’t hide your pain from Jesus. 2. Know that most people cannot handle your pain because they don’t have the Spirit of Christ in this measure. 3. Identify the source 4. Know that some pain is self-inflicted: 5. Cast your cares on the Lord because handling your pain in the covenant that Jesus made. 6. Stop the pain. Life-pain is essentially noise, so go to a quiet place. “Be still and know that God is God.” (Psalm 46:10) 7. Ultimately all pain has to register in the mind. So focus on something else. Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 8. Don’t withdraw. Don’t stop doing what you are supposed to do. 9. Repent: Change your mind. Go in a different direction.