Walk into Pain

“It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next giant step forward by overcoming them.  The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer pointlessly, without learning the lesson.” -- Emmet Fox

 

"The circumstances you currently face are the precise conditions required to give you exactly what you are needing to be who you are most longing to be." - Your Truly

 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - St. Paul

 

"The obstacles before you will become your source of life." - The "fortune" from my fortune cookie at lunch yesterday

 

"Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." - Jesus

 

So it comes to this. God has reverted to fortune cookies to pronounce out loud, once again, what has become so glaringly true in my life's experiences.

 

And yet, still, I resist.

 

I resist pain when it presents itself to me.

I resist coaching others to walk into their pain.

I resist seeing Christ's life, who I say I want to emulate above all else, primarily as a "walk into pain".

I resist people who love me enough to point me into it while the world (and my rational flesh) calls them fools.

 

It's so counter-intuitive. No wonder my Master has tutored me with the idea that "narrow is the road that leads to life" and that only a "few find it".

 

So few believe. So few. Even among the spiritual. So few.

 

When circumstances provide me with the obvious opportunity to be forged, to confront myself, to transform, to metamorphosis, it always requires time, energy, intent, willingness...suffering.

 

Sometimes I do brain-dead things to drown out the "opportunity", like flip on the TV or surf the web. But most of the time I need a much more noble distraction to "trick myself" out of doing this self-crucifixion-type work. Something as obviously mind-numbing, useless, and time killing taking a drink, a drug, or even picking up the comic section of the newspaper isn't thick enough to shade me from the light of opportunity before me. No, I need much more "spiritual" deception. Something I can use to justify my avoidance of true suffering.

 

Like calling a hurting person. God knows there are plenty of them, and after all, what better way to avoid anything lacking in me than by helping someone who is lacking in them? I even get to feel appreciated in my assistance of someone else's transformation while avoiding mine!

 

Or serving my family. How splendid is that? I get to be a good husband and father, and acknowledged as such, while avoiding the hard inner-work that would be a much truer blessing to them.

 

Or drowning myself in the details of my "work". I'm a minister, so I get the double bonus of "needing to get my work done" or "providing for my family" AND consider it a service to my church. No one, not even I, will notice that my zeal stems from my fear of suffering. There's nothing like a little suffering to camouflage my avoidance and fear of a massive dose of it.

 

You know, the opportunity for truly sincere, holy, life-giving suffering is probably constantly available, but rare is the moment, it seems, when it both presents itself in glorious fashion and I am awake enough to see it as such. I should take it when it comes...and so should you.

 

We should put our trust in it's light while we have it, so that we can become sons of light.

 

Right now, right here, if I will perk up and pay attention, I will undergo a revolution. All things that are present in my life right now, all the cast of characters that surround me, even the seemingly insignificant ones, will work for good for me. If only I will love God and work according to His purpose in putting them all there. If only I will walk into the suffering.

 

It's trying to happen. For you, too. Look around, spot it, and walk into it. And then, and only then, will you find life to the full. Only then will you be a source of it for others. Only then...will you be more like Christ than you are now.