“In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:22)
Very few of us have ever experienced the amount of physical suffering that Job did, when Satan is allowed to strike, he strikes hard. For those of you who know pain, you know that somedays the only relief comes when you are sound asleep, and then that pain, sometimes several times a night, will awaken you, the moments of relief fade away as the sun rises again.
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” (Malachi 4:2)
Born-again believers who live with pain find comfort, at least in their soul, in the moment of death, the anticipation of no pain ever again, but that knowledge, that promise is rarely at the forefront of their mind, the pain and anguish of others is. The man that received almost two hundred stripes sought out those who were in the pain of the fear of death, and cried to them, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55)
The man acquainted with grief and sorrow above all others healed all who came to Him, and then suffered pain and anguish that no man had ever suffered before or ever will.
Job did not blame God, but he did not enjoy the circumstances that he was placed in, pain will do that to a man.
It is difficult to do everything without complaining when pain, physical pain, is nearly a constant companion, but we try. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:17) The best those of the world can do is say, “Well, it could be worse,” but they do not know their end if they do not repent, the worse for them is yet to come.
But I ask you this today, when and if you have mentioned to a brother or sister in Christ about a physical ailment that you may be experiencing at the moment, did they say to you, “You should go to a doctor and have that looked at,” or did they say, “Let me pray for you.” I think I know the answer, but I hope in your case I am wrong.
Pain is not our friend anymore then death is, our friends are not cast into the Lake of Fire. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Rev. 20:14) But pain can do something for some of us that we may rarely do on our own without it, it drives us to our knees before the Lord. We pray when there is a need, sadly, more earnestly than when the sun is shining, more fervently than when all is well, pain in that sense can be a blessing. It also serves as a reminder, that one day, and for every single day after that throughout all of eternity, we will never once feel physical pain ever again.
Paul and Silas rejoiced in song when their feet were put in the stocks, can you do so when the pain arrives?
I offer you this truth, if the Lord God did not want you in pain, you would not experience any, and I can validate that statement with Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Personally, I hate pain, and I am tired of it, and I will probably wake up sometime tonight again and complain about it. Then I will tell Him I am sorry, and wait patiently to fall back asleep, thinking of the day when pain will be no more.