Sometimes Pain Is a Good Thing

Sometimes Pain Is a Good Thing
KENISHA BETHEA

"Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?" Romans 2:4 (NLT)

My friend limped into the doctor's office, barely able to move the offending leg; I went along for support.

"Where does it hurt?" her doctor probed. "What happened?"

Hiking had happened.

More accurately, falling while hiking. My friend rolled her ankle coming down the rocky crag of a mountain. She took some pain pills and hobbled around for a few days, but eventually with even the slightest movement, the pain caused her to recoil in tears as the doctor leaned in to assess the affected area.

"I know it doesn't feel good," the doctor said with a smile, cupping the ankle with one hand and gently touching the inflamed area. "But the pain is actually a good thing!"

Yes, spoken with a smile.

My friend and I still joke about the look she gave the doctor. It was as if a combination of her thoughts came out through her expression and her eyes. A mix of "Wait, what?" and "Well if pain is so good, lean in again, and I'll give you all the 'goodness' you can handle." Mercy.

The doctor went on, "The nerves in your ankle send pain signals to your brain. Your brain processes the pain as something is wrong, and you seek care for your trauma. It's really genius the way God created our bodies to respond to pain. If you sprained your ankle but didn't have pain, you would go about your daily activities and eventually experience a break or worse."

Until that day, I'd never heard anyone call pain good. I'd always thought of pain as discomfort to dodge at all costs or an ache to avoid with continuous doses of ibuprofen — not a tool designed by God for my good.

That day in the doctor's office, I realized that physical elements of pain often mirror the spiritual sorrow I experience when I ignore God's kindness in the discomfort of my distress.

Romans 2:4 explains it well. "Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"

God's kindness is what draws us to Himself in salvation, but God is also kind in the details of our day-to-day lives. I'm convinced He sometimes uses pain signals deep within our souls to call to us to seek help, seek Him and avoid further suffering.

It's sad to say, but:

  • We might never pay attention to an addiction until the pain of a destroyed life seems eminent.
  • We might never get hold of our anger or selfishness until the pain of a loved one leaving the relationship becomes our reality.

Maybe we feel an ache within, but over the years we've developed a high threshold for the pain. Or perhaps the stinging stopped because we're heavily medicated with "spiritual ibuprofen" — numbing the pain with whatever (or whomever) will give us temporary relief.


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Victor Christianto
Founder of The Second Coming Institute, www.sci4God.com
Founder of www.DigiMBA.com, Preparing Leaders for 21st Century
Founder of www.acaraindo.com, Promoting cultural and music events in Jakarta and other cities
Founder of www.ketindo.com, A renewable energy consultant 
My books and papers can be found at:
 
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We love you all nations, but time is very very limited. Be hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ. Find a guide to help you repent and receive Jesus Christ, in this link http://www.esnips.com/web/Guidetorepent,
http://www.esnips.com/web/RepentanceGuide.
Print this guide, copy as many as you can, and distribute this to as many countries as you can, including Asian countries such as China, Burma, Thailand, Campuchea, Laos, Srilanka, and Vietnam. Pray and ask to God first before you select a language for your country. That is the message: be hurry be very very very very very hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ, all corners of the world.
Don't you know that Jesus Christ will come again soon? That is why you should be hurry and quickly to repent and do your repentance. Tweet this message quickly and distribute this message to as many countries as you can including to all your friends quickly, quickly, quickly today. Follow Jesus only at http://www.twitter.com/Christianto2013.
Send this message quickly to all your colleagues and to all your friends. Thank you, Jesus Christ already help you. 

blog: http://guidetorepent.blogspot.com, http://findtheTruthnow.blogspot.com,
http://evangelismwithsocialmedia.blogspot.com
guide: http://GoodNews.getfreehosting.co.uk/digfile/cms/index.php (login with 'visitor')
video: http://youtube.com/guidetorepent,
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VChristianto,
and follow Jesus only at www.twitter.com/Christianto2013

**KINDLE BOOKS:
authorpage: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AZEDP4E
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book Two. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR3F9C
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book One. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR6TJU
by Jesus Christ: How social darwinism ruin America and the World. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJJQI
by Jesus Christ: Evangelism for Difficult People. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJCLA
by Jesus Christ: How you can do Evangelism with Social Media. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDXZLI
by Jesus Christ: The Nicene Creed. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDYMJ2
by Jesus Christ: Logos, Memra, and other letter for Economists. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDY7JW
by Jesus Christ: our Father in Heaven prayer. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZKZUNM
Some problems of Nuclear Energy development in Asia: A literature survey. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B4LW5ZW

Some papers at www.vixra.org:
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0036
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0037
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0005
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0003
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0053

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