FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PAINS
"THE PAINBEARER"
Our motto of "No pain, please"
Most of us spent most of our life running from pain. Or at least, if not running from pain, trying to numb the pain. Trying to take some pain killers, or anything, so we would not have to deal with the pain that can come to us without notice. We live in a society of numbing the pain, of taking painkillers, of looking the other way. Anything, just ‘Please no pain!’ In our world, there is a lot of pain. Most of us just try to get as far away from it as we can.
Some say, "The way to deal with my pain is to give myself more pain; then it will get my mind off of the real pain." Numbing the pain, giving each other more pain in trying not to think about and trying to escape from the real pain.
My friends you don’t have to numb the pain and you don’t have to run from pain. I want you to know there is a Painbearer. There is someone that understands what you are going through. Whatever your pain is - physical or emotional, psychological or spiritual - whatever it is, there is someone who says, "I understand where you’re coming from. I know what you’re dealing with." You don’t have to numb the pain. You don’t have to run from pain. Pain is okay.
If there is real pain in your life, there is a Painbearer, today, saying, "I understand, I want to know what you’re going through. I want to have a relationship with you. It is okay." Some of you might be saying, "A Painbearer? Who is out there that understands my pain? You don’t understand my pain.You don’t understand what I’m going through. Hey, I can’t even describe to you what my pain is, so how are you going to know my pain? How are you going to bear my pain if I can’t even describe it to you or put a finger on exactly what my pain is? I just know that I’m going through something!" no matter what you are dealing with, what you are going through, what you are trying to run from or numb or ignore or pretend it is not there, there is a Painbearer saying, "I’m here, let’s go through it together."
In Matthew, starting chapter 27, Here we get to meet the Painbearer.
Matthew 27:27 Verse 34 says that just before they were ready to put the nails into Jesus hands and feet and bring more pain to him, they offered him wine mixed with gall to drink. What is gall? Gall was a painkiller. The wine is there to make it taste good. I guess it is like the cherry flavoring in cough syrup. If the cherry flavor wasn’t there, you wouldn’t want it because it wouldn’t taste good. So the gall is the painkiller, it eases the pain, takes the pain away. And this is what I just can’t understand. It says when Jesus tasted it, he would not take it!
And In Verse 28 it tells us they stripped him and exposed him to the world. That is painful, to be stripped and exposed to the whole world. They took a crown of thorns and pushed it on his head. That sounds painful as well. They mocked him. Being mocked can be painful. They spat on him, another area of pain. Then they struck him on the head over and over again. Look at all this physical, spiritual and emotional pain. Then before they brought on more pain, they offered him a painkiller, but Jesus said, "No thank you, I’ll bear the pain. I’ll take on the pain of humanity because there is a greater good on the other side; there is a bigger healing in store for me if I can just bear this pain. I don’t want a painkiller."
That is someone that is a true Painbearer. Someone who has taken it all. So, no matter what you are going through, I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not by yourself. There is One who has experienced all kinds of pain. He is there for you in whatever you are going through, whatever you are dealing with, whatever you can’t understand, whatever you can’t quite put your finger on, whatever is stressful in your life, whatever is running you around in circles, whatever is giving you a headache. You don’t have to numb it or run away from it anymore, because there is a Painbearer that is here and says, "I’m with you. You don’t have to run. You are not alone in your pain."
See what the relationship is with the Painbearer? You can embrace the pain. Instead of numbing or running from pain, you can embrace it. You can say, "Okay, with the Painbearer, I can handle this."
Matthew 16:21 says, "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering or pain. That he would be killed, but raised up on the third day." He was going to go through this pain, but there was a bigger healing on the other side.
Verse 22 says that Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid it, Lord. This must never happen." Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get behind me. You represent the enemy. You don’t understand the greater healing, that pain is okay." How can pain be okay? Pain reminds us that we are still alive. Pain, for some of us, can be a warning signal. Pain can be like the alarm clock going off in our souls. Pain doesn’t have to be that bad if you’re with the Painbearer. Again, you don’t have to live this life saying, "Bring on the pain. I love pain. Hurt me." But we live in a very real world with very real pain and struggles and burdens. There is a Painbearer that is there for you.
James 1:2 says, "My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete." There can be healing and maturity and endurance in pain if you would be willing not to bear the pain alone. If you are willing to have a relationship of intimacy with the Painbearer, Jesus Christ, the one who went to the cross and took on all our burdens.
Whatever you are struggling with, Jesus takes it on. Whatever your stress is, Jesus takes it on. Whatever the burden, whatever the issue, Jesus takes it on. Through life with the Painbearer, you can find great healing and can be more mature. Every time pain comes, you get stronger because you are with the Painbearer. Every time you get attacked, whether it is on your job or in your marriage or with your kids or just trying to juggle the issues of life, there is a Painbearer who loves you, who cares about you, who says "I’m in your corner. I’m cheering for you. We can get through this thing together." That is good news!
God uses pain to heal us. God uses pain to make us better, to make us wiser, to make us stronger. We get closer to God in times of pain. But this is a great mystery. It doesn’t make sense. How can there be healing in pain? How can pain be good for me? The Painbearer, who takes it on for you through a relationship with him, wants to explore all the areas of your life. Sometimes pain is a great opportunity to give God one hundred percent. Maybe pain shows us an area that we haven’t given to God yet. An area that you thought you had given to God, but the reason you’re still feeling pain is that you’ve been trying to take this issue and solve it all by yourself.
If right now there is a real pain in your life, an issue, a stress, a burden. Give it completely over to the Painbearer, to God through Jesus Christ.
Reflect on the Painbearer, the one who understands, the one who says you’re not alone, the one that says I want to help you, I want to be with you, I want to love you, I want to coach you, I want to affirm you. And through this pain there is great healing, there is great strength.
How many people will be honest and say there is pain in my life, there are some things that I’ve been trying to deal with on my own, all by myself. Things I’ve been struggling through. It could be physical, it could be spiritual, it could be emotional and it could be something that you can’t even put your finger on. Jesus Christ stands before you, saying that you are not alone. Together we can be healed, together we can grow stronger, together we can be healthy, together we can search for real answers to real issues.
God uses pain to heal us personally. God heals us and uses us to heal the world.
Let us Pray: "God I give you my pain, I give you my issues. Your yoke is easy, your burden is light. Let’s deal with it together." Be with us and heal us, Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Remember there are people who have more pains, more burdens and more sufferings than you have, but still these people continued their lives, rise up again and reach out to GOD, to love GOD even more. Everything that GOD allows to come our way is with a purpose…GOD uses even the greatest error and the deepest hurt to mold us into a person of worth and value. "THE DEEPEST LEVEL OF WORSHIP IS PRAISING GOD IN SPITE OF PAIN, THANKING GOD DURING A TRIAL, TRUSTING HIM WHEN TEMPTED, SURRENDERING WHILE SUFFERING, AND LOVING HIM WHEN HE SEEMS DISTANT." Be strong and have a strong Faith in GOD. LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS.
GODBLESS&PRAYALWAYS
