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Posts Tagged ‘pain’

Hour of Decision

Posted in Feast Days and Holy Days, Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 12:23
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified….”

There are several places in scripture where Jesus refers to “the hour.” Sometimes he speaks of it as a time that cannot be known or that the hour was approaching or that the hour had not yet come. But here in John 12, the tone changes and he identifies the time as “his hour.” From that “hour” forward, everything would be different.

I’m pretty sure most of us can’t predict when one of our “hours” is necessarily approaching, but when it does come, I think we know it for what it is. Now, I am not talking about the hour of a person’s death. I am talking about an hour of decision… an hour of transformation… an hour of self-discovery. These “hours” or times usually place a question before us: will you go or stay, will you accept or reject, will you agree or disagree, will you lie or tell the truth, (to name a few). These are those decisions that cannot be taken back.

Preparation for these “hours” is general, at best. As a Christian, the obvious things apply such as prayer, study, worship, and sensitivity to the voice of God. But perhaps it is more telling how we walk out our decisions after they are made.

I have a friend who is in a terrible marriage (who doesn’t know someone like this?) and continues to grieve and cry and rant over the circumstances. I understand in my heart and yet, I cannot help but think that the “hour” came and went. If a person decides “to stay,” then the rest of the time should be spent making “to stay” work. If not, then go, and make “leaving” work. One cannot both stay in body and leave in spirit or heart (or vice versa). It is living a lie.

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus, it was His last great miracle. He did not tell anyone “not to tell.” His time had come and everyone needed to know it. So He climbed on a donkey and entered Jerusalem publicly inviting His enemies to finish what they had started. He accepted every step, every curse, every attack, and every pain after His decision. We must do the same.

We have been fooled into believing that the decision itself is the hard part. Not at all, it’s the life after the decision that is the challenge. Thanks be to God who helps us walk out our decisions, both good and bad.

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Exhausted From Sorrow

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , on April 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 22:45
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

Sometimes we just don’t realize how exhausting it is to live in sorrow. What is the source of that sorrow? Is it grief because of a loss? Is it depression and being overwhelmed by the responsibilities of life? Is it heartache from a loveless relationship? Is it from the accumulation of pain from illness? Is it the trials we face through wrong choices (our own or a loved one)? Is it just the sadness from disappointment?

What caused the sorrow of the disciples that fateful night as they prayed on the Mt. of Olives? It was Jesus we read about who prayed in anguish and sweated drops of blood. He had asked the disciples to pray that they not be tempted. But they fell asleep, exhausted from sorrow. Perhaps they shared some of his pain that night after all. But, it was too much for them to bear.

Sorrow comes to all of us. It is important to be mindful of our sorrow, not to dwell in it, but to consciously reveal the depth of it to Christ, who is able to bear it for us. So often, people in depression and grief sleep. It is an escape from the pain. But it is in wakefulness to the Holy Spirit that we can receive relief.

I confess my sorrow. In particular, I confess the sorrow I have stored away in the deepest part of my heart that has found residence there for many years. It is time to reveal it and let it go.

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Jesus Accepted the Pain

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , on March 31, 2009| 2 Comments »

Mark 15:23-24
Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

Jesus allowed it all to happen. He allowed the mocking, the whipping, the accusations, the abuse, and the horrible, horrible pain. He understood his journey included pain. So many times in our own culture, we do anything and everything we can to mask or hide the pain. I am not saying that’s always bad. In fact, my mantra used to be “avoid pain at all costs.” And I did. I avoided physical pain and I avoided emotional pain. But, when there is no pain, there is a numbness that can cut us off from the reality of our experiences. I am trying to stop running from all the things that hurt.

Some years ago, Philip Yancey and Paul Brand wrote a book called Pain, the Gift that Nobody Wants. Although it is actually the story of Paul Brand’s work with lepers and leprosy (which, by the way, is really a bacteria that causes loss of sensation or feeling… first in the extremities and then other parts). But the book takes us to another other level as well… to remind us of the importance of pain, particularly in our bodies. Pain gives us information about things going wrong. If we always ignore or mask pain, we may miss something important.

Jesus had to feel it all. I don’t really know why, but it was definitely part of the package. It takes courage to face pain and to accept it. I marvel at those who have travailed in truly serious illnesses. They know about that pain. I am humbled in the face of it.

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Mystery

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , on February 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The story of Daniel has many mysteries, but one of the most well known is the revelations that God gave him about the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2). I have not had any mysterious dreams, but I do wonder today why things work the way they do. The juxtaposition of events is always a bit peculiar. This past weekend, my children all went on a Chrysalis weekend, a mountain top if not life-changing one for all of them. And then, they all got sick (virus heaven on the weekend I suppose) and then, I too, became ill, but with a more mysterious ailment than just a cold.

I am currently in a lot of discomfort along with some pain below my sternum and so far, in a week of tests and doctor appointments, no one knows the source or cause of my problem. It’s a mystery. In my heart I believe that God is in this, but I don’t know yet, in what way. In verse 2:18, Daniel says to his friends, plead for mercy from God concerning this mystery… he was asking for revelation, a supernatural understanding of what Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was and what it meant. Note… they needed to discover what it was before it’s meaning could be discerned.

There are actually many mysteries in our lives like this… and I think we don’t spend enough time asking God for the mercy of revelation. We are too busy using our own knowledge or the knowledge of others to reveal truth, when we should be asking God for it.

We don’t spend enough time identifying what is actually happening. We don’t look deeply enough into the nature of the events. We assume too much. We interpret before we know. We interpret the symptoms… the outward expressions of what is.

Today, I ask… I plead oh God, for an understanding of what is…

I remember my salvation story a true expression of this idea… when I came to the Lord, it was because a classmate challenged me to read the New Testament the same way we were being instructed in acting school to read scripts. For the first read-through, we were told to put the phrase, “If this were true…” and only after taking all the words at face value … to get the full intent of what they words actually say … could we begin to interpret. It was this reading of the Word that brought me to my knees before God, alone, on Christmas Eve, 1979.

There is a core truth to every event.

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