Most of the people I minister to are in some kind of
pain. Emotional pain, pain of a relationship that has gone bad, the pain that
accompanies guilt and shame, and even helping those who deal with physical pain
all come for help, healing and hope from God's Word in the process we call
biblical counseling.
I don't know anyone who actually enjoys being in pain, most people really
hate it and want to avoid it. Even those who self-injure don't do it because
they like the pain, but as a coping mechanism.
Sometimes women tell me that their pain is unbearable and they cannot
handle it. In Christ, that is not the case and part of the obligation of the
Biblical Counselor is to help her to see her pain from God's perspective.
Jesus is well acquainted with pain, suffering, and rejection.
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their
face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isa. 53:3 (NASB)
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and
the scribes, and be killed, Mark
8:31 (NASB)
He was rejected by His family, friends, and countrymen.
Those who once embraced Him were lined up to jeer him on the way to His
crucifixion.
Jesus knew what He was facing and in the Garden the night
before His crucifixion and He prayed to God that He would continue to follow
the will of His Father. We would most likely consider this pain to be
unbearable, since the looming hours were so horrifying to Jesus that He sweat
drops of blood from the stress of it (Luke 22:44). I daresay that none of us
have experienced such an event but even if we did, would the presence of Christ
be enough to see us through it?
The Bible tells us, “Yes!”
·
My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
·
My presence will go with you, and
I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:14)
·
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27)
·
Be strong and courageous; do not
be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
(Joshua 1:9)
These are but a few of the many verses of Scripture the Lord uses
to remind us that He is with us in the midst of any pain we are called to
endure.
For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without
sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 (NASB)
Truly, we can
endure anything the Lord allows into our lives up to and including the pain of
death. We have a perfect example in our Lord and Savior and He is our ever present
help in time of need (Psalm 46:1).