The path of pain

Life has been taking me down some tough roads lately. I guess it might be better to say that they are vicariously tough - I seem to be walking with folks who are going through really tough times. It is a path I wish I didn't know so well.

I hate watching people I love having to endure pain. It is harder still to be the one to encourage them to not only endure that pain, but to embrace it. Because it is the vehicle of pain that changes us. It was the pain Jesus suffered on the cross that paid for our healing. Remember that Isaiah verse "By His Stripes (wounds) we are healed"? Jesus' death paid for our sin, but it was His suffering - enduring pain - that healed us. His willingness to embrace pain literally changed all of history for the rest of us.

But encouraging people to not run from their pain and embrace it instead is an unwelcome gospel. The only thing that makes the carrier of that message believable is their own embracing of pain. And there is something inside of all of us that can tell if a person really knows what they are talking about when it comes to pain. You have either been there or you haven't. And people can tell if you have.

And sadly, we need more people to be willing to go there so we can have have more people who have been there. Those "been there" folks are worth more than gold to the body of Christ. But they are few and far between. I guess our comfort has become more important than our growth.