The Power of Pain

Why do we feel pain?

This morning I heard the quiet, still voice of Jesus say,

“Let’s go for a walk around the pond.”

I had just finished my morning devotion where I had read through Colossians 2. I love the walk around the pond; it’s a place where I feel an especially close proximity and intimacy with my creator and I always learn something new during the 5-minute trek. As I was walking along, praying and talking with God about life and the beauty of what was around me I felt a stinging pain on my right calf. I looked down and a hornet had latched itself onto me and had just plunged its stinger into my leg. I quickly brushed it off and grunted in pain as I hopped forward a few steps.

“Ouch, Jesus why?!” was my response as I immediately sent my plea of distress to my savior.

My leg was screaming in pain and I was extremely aware of the pin prick area on my leg that was sending searing impulses of distress up to my brain. I continued to hobble along, continuously aware of the throbbing pain in my leg. It was in this moment that I was reminded of what I had read in my devotional this morning.

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. – Colossians 2:18-19

I suddenly realized the value of pain to connect a seemingly dormant part of the body to the head immediately. My mind was incredibly aware of the shouts of distress coming from my calf. Had that hornet sting not occurred, that area of my body would have continued to lie dormant and unconnected to my mind. It was in the pain that there was a connection formed between my leg and my mind.

Similarly, with Jesus as the head of the body of Christ, sometimes He allows for “hornets” to sting us in order to re-establish His connection with us. It has been in the most painful times of my life that I deepened my relationship with my creator the most.

What’s also important to note is that the head feels pain. We experience the sting but Jesus then carries the burden of bearing that pain with us since He is the head of the body. The head feels all the pain. Every nervous impulse sent from the body will travel up to the head where it is felt immensely. It’s amazing How God desires to suffer with us to grow closer to us. Jesus feels our pain.

God is a jealous God and He desires a close intimate relationship with all the members of His body. So maybe pain is a means to re-connect those who have lost connection with the Head. What if pain is a valuable tool to draw us deeper into the beautiful relationship of LOVE with our maker.