The last several weeks have been very hard. A lot of things have been happening in my personal life. I've been dealing with some health issues that I think it's pretty safe to say are left over from my former marriage and to top it all off, I recently discovered that my ex was, in fact, cheating on me while we were married. Lots of pain, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, have resulted from these recent events but it's made me stop to think. Pain is a good thing.
For one, it's a symptom of being alive. When a patient comes in after a trauma, if they aren't laying there, screaming in pain, it makes you worry. Pain is a localizing indicator of the location of the problem. It says to the physician - "look here, now!". Instinctively, it urges a person to protect themselves and avoid further injury. Secondly, if a person is screaming, it tells a doctor their lungs are patient and working to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. If they can tell you where it hurts, it means their brain is receiving signals from their body, the patient is still capable of interpreting these signals and then formulating words to express where they hurt. If their brain and lungs are working, then their heart is still beating, at least for the time being.
On the other hand, when it stops hurting, that's no good. Their body is going into a self-protective mode and it's shutting down. The injury is too much to handle and the body is telling the patient that it is no longer necessary to care what happens to the injured limb or organ. When pain suddenly and without reason stops, that's when we worry.
My pain tells me I'm still fighting. It also urges me to turn to the One who can provide healing. Only the Lord can be my Physician in this instance and I know in my heart that He's glad when I come to His throne. His healing is complete and deep and thorough. I'm grateful for this suffering because it tells me where the problems are.
