Even when your pain is hard pressing on all sides, it will not crush you – God promises that it won’t. Calm your heart, take a deep breath, and ask God to go before you into the day. Learn how to “carry” your pain.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, sharing hope for you today.
Recently a listener wrote in, asking about the way I handle chronic neuropathic pain. He has heard me on the radio many times talk about the way I deal with it; how I think about it, engage it, get through it without, well, without becoming a basket-case. And to answer this listener’s question, I wanted him to know that I don’t fight my pain; I don’t think [nor do I say], “Man, I hate this; I am so fed up with pain; I can’t stand it!” I mean words like that only make pain worse. Anxious feelings exacerbate your discomfort. And so, I talk and I think differently. I quote scripture to my pain; things like, 2 Corinthians 4:8 where it says, "Though we are hard-pressed on all sides, we are not crushed." So, in the night when I feel overwhelmed by my pain, I quiet my heart by reminding myself that though my pain is hard-pressing on all sides, it will not crush me. It cannot. God promises that it won’t.
This is how I "carry pain" with me. I don’t reject it; I carry it. It’s my way of de-fanging it as it were a snake. I familiarize myself with all the nuances of my pain. And as a result, it’s been stripped of its ability to terrorize me. I stay on top of it by adjusting my medications, constantly stretching, getting hydrated, reducing inflammation by eating right, deep breathing, and holding fast to Bible promises, and casting myself repeatedly on Christ. In fact, Micah the prophet was talking about Christ when he wrote, "He will break through the gate before them." So, not only has Christ traveled the road of excruciating pain before you, but he has broken through it, he has cleared the way. He has broken through the gate of pain and made a hope-filled path for you.
Charles Spurgeon writes about this, about deep afflictions; he says, "There are fierce lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged and made passable; there are flames, but we wear fire resistant clothing. The sword [of pain] that has been forged against us is already blunted. God in Christ has taken away all the power of every hurtful thing so that we may safely march onward and seize the plunder." Now, all this means that we can look into the grim stern countenance of pain and not be afraid. For our suffering, yet victorious Savior, has already gone before us, and he has transformed that place of agony into a resurrection of hope and help. Yeah, sure, pain may try to shrink your world, but Jesus said in the Gospel of John, "Take heart! I have overcome the world." Can we believe that? Can we trust that the hope and help of Christ; that it’s enough? Can we deal with our pain calmly and carry it with his grace? The Bible thinks we can. God thinks we can. And so, if you are struggling with chronic pain, don’t think of it as something separate from yourself. It’s part of you, at least for a time being – so familiarize yourself with it. Get to know its nuances. And join me in calming your heart, taking a deep breath, and asking God to go before you into the day. For it says in Isaiah 46 that "God will carry you. He has made you; he will bear you, and he will rescue you."
What a promise. Jesus is reaching out to you through Isaiah 46 today. And just one glance at his nail scarred hands will convince you that he understands your pain, and that his grace is more than sufficient to see you through. These are good words of hope coming to you today from joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends