A Case For Pain

Pain is inevitable. It happens. We step on a Lego. Go to the dentist. Have our heart broken. See somebody we love struggle. Have somebody close to us die. Experience the loss of a job or an unwanted move. Be overcome by responsibilities. Be strangled by an addiction. I could go on and on.

Kierkegaard wrote of pain: “The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you'll never have.” A broken foot will heal. So can broken hearts. Unfulfilled dreams are the cruelest and most enduring form of pain.

The baby’s name was Pain. We probably wouldn’t choose that name for a baby. Surely we wouldn’t. But his mom did. In Hebrew his name is ‏יַעְבֵּץ which means pain. We transliterate the word to be Jabez. You may have heard of him before—he is the guy who prayed the big prayer.

There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from pain!” And God granted him his request. -1 Chronicles 4:9-10

His prayer is profound in so many ways. The last part of the prayer in Hebrew reads: “Keep me from hurting Jabez” which is a play on words—so it actually reads—“Let my dreams come true, always be with me, and keep me from hurting myself.”

Some pain comes directly from others. Somebody did something to you or said something about you. We have experienced that before and it is terrible. Some pain comes from the broken world we live in. Disease, accidents, recessions, etc… We can’t really do a darn thing about them except know they are real. And some pain comes from our self. Jabez knew this and so do you. Laziness, anger, fear of fear, greed, not taking care of ourselves, etc… So he prayed: “Keep me from hurting myself.”

Chasing dreams is daunting. Relentlessly pursuing personal vision can be overwhelming. But the Danish philosopher and the guy with the odd name knew daunting and overwhelming was better than growing old wondering what might have been. 

Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. –C.S. Lewis

Pain isn’t a bad thing. Pain is an incentive to search for a better tomorrow. Pain opens doors to healing. And pain can make the world a better place. Heartbreak can be a breakthrough. Wounds can transform into wisdom. Our past can give somebody else a future. And God—the love, the power, and the grace—is most evident and abundant in pain.

The best is yet to come…

Craig