My nephew recently had a bad car accident that resulted in a long hospital stay, physical therapy, and a lot of pain. Unfortunately the pain medication wasn’t alleviating all of the pain. He was told he needed to learn to manage the pain.
That really made the think about pain and how our brain processes it. I asked God to help me understand. (Be careful what you pray for…)
About a week later I was having terrible pain that came on suddenly and I realized that I had a bladder infection. Great. Then I remembered my prayer. I realized that when I focused on the pain it became more acute, and when I turned my focus from the pain (focusing on God) I was able to relax and that made the pain subside some.
Then I realized when we have emotional pain we handle it much the same way. Often when we feel emotional pain we focus on the pain and it gets stronger. While we need to face our feelings, it seems like we need to face them WITH God.
I believe that’s what happened to Jesus at the cross. He suffered but he wasn’t alone until the very end when he had to carry the burden by himself. That’s when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” For the last moment of his earthly life, he stood alone. He did that so we would NOT stand alone during our last moment. Jesus stands WITH us.
Learning pain management is important for a community (like the Trinity) because as the community stands WITH you, they CARRY you. How wonderful it is that the Holy Trinity serves as our perfect example of a community of faith!
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