By Pastor Jake Doell
Posted 16 hours ago
We live in a culture that tries to avoid pain, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. I’m thankful that medical science has found many good ways of dealing with physical and emotional pain. Yet all of these methods are only temporary. Pain is only a signal of a deeper issue i.e.: a toothache is caused by a cavity and the pain will only go away permanently when the cause is looked after. When stress is not dealt with in a healthy way it can cause depression and other emotional pain. Temporary relief may be found in the right medication, but only when we deal with learning to cope with stress in healthy ways can we rise above the pain.
Interesting to note that since the wheels began to fall off our economy, the sale of alcoholic beverages have gone up and gambling has also increased. Why? I believe that more people are turning to temporary solutions to help them cope with the stress of it all. Many of these solutions often create more pain instead of fixing it.
Pain is also a reality of life. No one can avoid all the painful experiences of life. We all have to deal with pain at some point in our lives. How we deal with the hurt will also determine whether we will live above the situation or get trapped underneath it.
I’m glad that God has provided a way for us not only to cope with our pain but to rise above it. His promise to us is “We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No! In all these things we win an overwhelming victory through Christ who proved His love for us.” (Romans 8:36&37)
Sometimes life feels like it’s trying to do us in. Disappointments, betrayals, loved ones passing on, can all bring us deep pain. When we receive Christ’s forgiveness through faith in His death on the cross, we can in turn forgive those who have hurt us. Forgiveness from a mere human perspective can seem impossible. When we open our hearts by faith to receive Christ’s forgiveness we can take and turn our pain into blessing. Forgiveness is God’s prescription for dealing with many of our emotional hurts as well as our spiritual pain of being separated from God. Often people also receive relief from physical pain after they have dealt with some of the deeper emotional and spiritual issues in their lives. Remember our Creator also wants to be our Healer.
—Doell is pastor for Lac du Bonnet's Abundant Life Chapel
Article from Lac du Bonnet Leader