Becoming HIS Tapestry

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PAIN; SHALL I CONSIDER IT A GIFT?

Hey friends, how are you doing? How has been your week so far? What were your plans for the year? Have you accomplished any? Today we enjoyed a beautiful, bright, sunny day.  Our temperature rose to 84°. Can you believe it? 84°! Thank You, Lord! Right now, at 9:33pm, I can hear the sounds of children playing out in the distance. They are talking and laughing as they enjoy the warmth of the night.

Jazz the cat

That’s the beauty of days like these, everyone enjoys them, even Jazz, our cat.  As she spends time outside, she tries her very best to catch the birds. They just laugh at her, as they fly past, literally calling, “catch me if you can’.   Thank You Lord, have I said that before?   I love beautiful, bright, sunny days, they are a balm to my soul.   What’s the temperature in your neck of the woods?

beautiful days like these

This week in our Sunday school, we will be delving into a lesson tilted ‘the Gift of Pain’.  Isn’t that a funny title for a lesson?  The ‘gift’ of pain? Is pain a gift? Can pain ever become a gift?  Can I decline that gift? Perhaps I don’t want that gift, Lord.  Can I say no to that gift, Lord? 

I remember, after having a C-Section for the birth of our first daughter, lying on my hospital bed in wonderful bliss.  I was so very thankful, I had, had a no delivery pain. When the nurses came to tell me, I had to get up from the bed and walk around, stupidly, I thought I had somehow managed to escape all the pain that came with child birth.  

Should have reread Genesis 3:16, perhaps then I would have been a little apprehensive about that order from the nurses.  Nothing prepared me for that excruciating pain that followed my attempt to just get off the bed.  I very emphatically told the nurses, I will not move, I’m staying right there; in fact, I will live in that bed.  So, they did what nurses did, they called my doctor; chickens!   My doctor was my mom’s doctor; what choice did I have, when she showed up? None! She was not having it! Gently but very firmly and sternly she left me with no choice.  I had to get up.  I thought I was going to die, I thought my brain was going to explode, the pain was everywhere.  

Have I told you my pain tolerance is rather low? Ummm, well according to my husband it is very low.  I don’t do pain well.  Perhaps I should have asked for natural birth, but I asked the Lord for C-Section and He said, ‘okay’.   As I write this, I am convinced I can still feel that pain. The ‘gift’ of pain.  Yet without that pain, the option would have been to accept a world without our two very precious girls! I suppose then that pain can be a gift.  What is the purpose of pain then? How do you respond to pain?

We have several examples of people in the Bible who suffered from both physical and mental pain.  People like Joseph; he was sold into slavery, by his very own brothers! Read that story in Genesis 37.  Then we have Paul who suffered physically with a ‘thorn in his side’ in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. We see in these men a snippet of their acceptance of the pain they must have endured. How did they do it?  How should I handle the pain, I have been called to endure?  Here are my five steps.

Surrender – wave the while flags; let’s give the pain to the Lord.  We will lay it at His feet in surrender; we may even feel better.  

Submit – our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. Our God isn’t surprised at the pain coursing through our bodies. He allowed it for a reason; we will perform His will, whatever it may be.

Subdue – the desire to wallow in self pity, or frustrations and anger is never far away.  We will not give these emotions the authority to rules our lives. These too, we will lay at the Lord’s feet.  

Seek – rather than stay in the cocoon of pain and the emotions that come with it, we will search for opportunities to be a blessing to others. Believe it or not, we are not alone in our suffering.  Some do not even know the Lord as their Savior.  Can you imagine their pain?

Serve – let’s choose to work for the Lord in what ever manner, He has called us to, wherever He has called us.  We will work well, in spite of the pain, so that we can hear the words, “well done”.  

How do you handle pain; whether mental or physical? 

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65 responses to “PAIN; SHALL I CONSIDER IT A GIFT?”

  5. I find solace in the Scripture that tells us, “ALL things work together for good for those who love the LORD and are called according to his purposes.

    I believe that ALL things means “ALL” things, pain included. Somewhere along Life’s way, the LORD will turn our pains into victory and rejoicing. It is hard sometimes to understand how the LORD works along these lines, but to the spirit-filled, born-again believer, the LORD does indeed do exactly what He says He will do. He never fails.

    We may not understand what the LORD is doing while we suffer pain, but we must understand that it is not intended for us to understand everything He does and that sooner or later, we will understand as He reveals it all to us.

    When I am in pain, I always pray, “God, please accept my pain as an offering on behalf of somebody somewhere who is worse off than I am.”

    Most of the time, when I pray this way, my own pain becomes less. Not always but most of the time. I try to do everything to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, my LORD and SAVIOR — I fail miserably most of the time but the LORD regards us as we are flesh. He understands our failings and forgives us of them when we confess them and ask for His forgiveness.

    When I am in pain, I have to remember that my pain can never be as severe as the pains that Jesus suffered for our sake on that cross and oftentimes, I can take great comfort from that realization.

    The Bible tells us to give thanks in ALL things … and as far as I am concerned, that includes pain as well.

    It also helps me when I start praising Jesus in the midst of pain because the LORD lives in the midst of the praises of His People and when I begin praising Him in the midst of pain, I can sense His Presence more strongly and His Presence is always a healing and comforting Presence.

    Just a couple of thoughts.

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  8. Hey, Brenda! It’s currently 71 degrees on a late summer night (11:42 PM). It’s finally cool enough for the AC to be felt pretty nicely. I enjoyed riding back from a ladies evening event at the church with the windows down, and the wind in my hair.
    This was a very increible post. I had a c section too and hated every time the nurses came to push on my stomach as they do to tell the uterus that it has delivered the baby so stop feeding the blood, trying to prevent hemorrhaging to death. I begged them to let me do it instead. They said I would not do it the same in fear of the pain. That definitely was a time pain was a gift because they were right. I had no idea the scope of what they were protecting me from. At 18 and never had previous surgery, I had no way to understand. Thank God for those nurses. And for my son! ❤
    I am glad God gave your nurses to you! As well those beautiful babies! ❤
    Pain has always been a way for God to keep me humble and mindful of who He is. It can be hard to deal with. I am NO hero when it comes to pain, but in moments of sanity I know He is looking out for me, and that sometimes our pain is for the benefit of others, just as Jesus' pain was for us.
    God loves you, Brenda!

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    • Thank you for this comment Gail. This is so very, very true; pain keeps us humble and mindful of the Great and Gracious God, we serve. Pain is for our good, as someone pointed out it tells us something is wrong or maybe someone is right 😁😁 May the Lord be with you

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      • That is so true. I don’t know if you’ve read Lisa Harper’s study on Job, but in it she tells of when she had surgery and her doctor (who was also a good friend of hers) told her she was a horrible patient which got her attention. He told her he could not help her when she denied the pain or tried to lessen it because he as a doctor had to use the pain to gauge if she was doing well or not, and if he needed to do something else or not. How much pain. How long. What made it worse. What made it better. He needed to know these things. God used that to help me better communicate to my doctors, nurses, and therapists instead of “thinking of it as whining.” It made a tremendous difference in many things regarding my health AND understanding of it. And believe it or not, the necessity of pain.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. I live with a chronic pain condition so my body is in pain 24× 7× 365 the only thing that changes is the intensity…on my better days it drops slightly…It has totally impacted my life…& is very wearying.
    But I have come to see that in this time of ‘being’ with God is a precious gift of insight & that I don’t have to be always ‘doing’ for God. I can rest in His arms & leave Him to do His work 😉
    Bless you Brenda,
    Jennifer

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  10. Great post Brenda! Some pain is necessary to protect us and keep us from making the same mistakes again. For example, if we put our hand on a hot stove, we’ll be careful not to do that again. Therefore, we learn lessons through pain. Hopefully.

    Then there’s pain like childbirth, as you mentioned, that we just have to bare so that we can enjoy the blessings that follow. 🙂

    ❤️carmen

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  12. I have a very low pain tolerance! I dislike pain with a passion and will do what I can to avoid it. These are some very practical steps to take when dealing with pain. I will gladly do some of them, but have to work on the others, lol. A great reminder! I haven’t had a C-section (very thankful for that personally), but my mom had two with both myself and my brother. I have a vague memory of her hobbling around after my brother was born. It’s a major surgery! God Bless and hurray for warmer weather 🙂

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  14. I live with chronic pain from a knee replacement that did not go well. I have found when I start to feel sorry for myself because walking can be painful, I remember that I can still walk – I’m not in a wheelchair or confined to a bed. I focus on what I do have – the ability to walk, not on what I don’t have – ability to walk without pain.

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  15. Firstly, I’m glad you finally had some nice warm weather! I hope it sticks around for you. Second, it’s 91 here but feels like 108 according to my app, due to the humidity. Bleh! I ran on the treadmill today. Pain is never wanted , but I can think of many times I have turned to God when in pain, so I guess that’s a good side effect. I know very well the pain of C-sections and boy does it take you by surprise! But yeah, it’s worth it, eventually, lol! Hey, wanted to tell you that I am still going to church and guess what, I am volunteering at VBS this week! Thanks to God using your post about church. 🙂 I’ve been so blessed this week by the experience. And it really has dawned on me, finally, how God uses our baby steps of faith to bless us and then to lead us to more steps. If we never step out, we miss out on so much! Have a great day, Brenda, and God bless you!

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  18. Pain is an indicator. It tells us something is wrong…whether it be physical or mental or spiritual. Pain means there is something going on that needs to be corrected or dealt with. We go to the doctor or we go to God, we find out the cause then we do what needs to be done to bring everything back into alignment with good health in every area of our lives. Sometimes that is a process that in and of itself is painful, but we do it if we want to get better. We are healed by the stripes that Jesus bore, but often we do not walk in that health because it costs more than we are willing to pay. Other times we just tolerate it because we don’t know what else to do.

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    • Love that ‘pain is an indicator that something is wrong’ that’s very good insight. That pain can sometimes be caused by us or by others in our lives ( usually that makes it harder to bear). But when we surrender the pain to our Lord and leave it with Him, He demonstrates His might and power. Thanks for this comment and May the Lord bless you

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  19. I have a very high tolerance for pain, and will even manage for awhile mentally and emotionally. But at some point I will snap and it’s usually not a pretty picture. I think low or high there are challenges. But as you say take those important steps. Mine challenge he would be surrender. If I did that sooner I wouldn’t take the non-helpful “S” step which is to snap. Thanks for the good word today!

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  20. Amen 🙏🏿. Beautifully written. Indeed there is purpose in our pain. It is in those very seasons that we learn to draw nearer unto God. There are lessons wrapped in those seasons. Thank you for sharing. Pain is a gift and we must learn to lay our burdens before God because He is our Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us deeply. Have a blessed day 😊

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  21. Wonderful blog! I always thought that pain built resilience, but that sounded masochistic. Then when I started reading the Bible, I finally understood 🙂 Now I deal with pain/discomfort/upsets by repeating a few Bible verses I have tucked away, and by trusting that God’s got my back!

    Take care and God bless,
    Yari 🙂

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    • Amen 🙏🏽 and amen 🙏🏽 At that point, we truly begin to live life abundantly, when we lay our burdens at His feet, when we intentionally surrender our will over to Him. God bless you, too. Your comment went to my spam folder 📁 not sure why

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  24. I think my physical pain tolerance is fairly high, but the mental? That’s where I need help from God, and he always pulls through for me. I can’t change everything that happens to me, but with faith, I can change my attitude.

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  27. I don’t like pain either. Not at all. But I live with it every day. Your steps of subdue, seek and serve are daily ones for me. I don’t like to wallow in self pity. I prefer to be of use in the Lord’s kingdom. I share my experience only because I hope it helps others and helps them come to Jesus.

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