Don’t Waste the Pain
Our son has been introduced to the world of physiotherapy. He knows a few new things now (apart from rethinking the height that it’s safe to jump down from). Here are some of them, perhaps you’ve learned them too? People who become physios or biokineticists often share certain definitive characteristics. They’re often small in stature, warm and personable in their manner, freakishly strong and fascinated by pain. They are genuinely kind and passionate about helping people and they seem to be able to use pain to do so.
Our son actually loved the experience. It also taught him that pain can be transferred from one area to another. When we get injured our body responds to minimise overall harm by immobilising certain areas. When we compensate in the way that we limp or otherwise change our movements to cope, this causes discomfort and less mobility in other areas. In his case, what started as an injury to his upper thigh culminated in back spasms. Physios are trained to assess the pain, trace the original source and then begin to reverse the process, and yes that hurts.
Consequently, he learned that pain is valuable. When someone like a physio understands pain, they can use it to ascertain how best to bring healing. They journey with us through the pain and help and direct our healing accordingly. In the Bible, in Mark’s book, chapter 8 verse 22 to 26, there’s something similar. A blind man is brought to Jesus, He could have restored his sight in an instant as he did on many occasions to others, but with this man He does something different. He takes Him by the hand and walks with Him, guiding Him to a remote place outside the village. There he begins a slow but progressive process of healing.
This intriguing approach would make sense if the man’s problem was more than just blindness. His blindness, like the pain in our son’s back may not have been his most serious problem. It seems He needed time with Jesus, talking and learning to trust Him, letting Him bring healing and relief to emotional and spiritual pain. Ultimately the time spent with Jesus must have been far more valuable than the recovery of his sight alone.
Jesus understands pain first hand and He has a way of journeying with us through our pain and suffering and using it to diagnose and deal with deeper and less obvious difficulties in us. The pain becomes a doorway through which we discover deeper and more wonderful relief. Whatever you are dealing with right now, you can ask Him to take your hand and lead you through it. He is faithful and caring and will not waste our pain, but use it for far greater things than we can imagine.
