There is this old saying that I use frequently, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” People may hear it and think I am being trite, but there is wisdom in such sayings and we should not so quickly dismiss them.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:20-21 ESV)
There is something to be learned in pain regarding what caused it and something to be learned in what we take from it, at least most of the time. Somehow, yesterday, I hurt my right hand. I do not remember hitting it on anything, but by evening it was swollen on top near my wrist. This morning the swelling is gone but the pain is still there. The lesson in this? I am getting older and things just tend to become painful from time to time without warning.
Life brings us many painful teachers. I joke often about being raised in small towns in Texas and during a time where parents did not try to keep kids from doing the stupid things kids do. Well, I am sure they would have, but we were off on our bikes roaming the town doing what kids do. We learned a lot from pain and another sage saying came from that, “Pain retains”.
The key to all of this is to learn from it. If the pain receptors that God built into our bodies and our minds to help us recognize current pain and keep us from future pain. We have to choose to allow it now but not continue to suffer from it.
Reflect on: What pain has taught you. Are you learning from it or bottling it up and allowing it to continue to cause you pain.
