New Pain

What’s up fam,

I have been fascinated recently with the notion of pain, new pain in particular. New pain often comes from changes in our lives in which we may or may not have control. This past year, 2012 was full of new change including moving to Chicago, studying for the bar, getting married, and seeking work.

What inspired today’s post was a conversation I had with one of my high school classmates who played on the football team. (Still wished my mom had let me play, by the way.) During class, this football player got hyped and said, “Man, that hurt so good!” He went on to explain that his exclamation came from the pain his muscles felt from lifting weights. I didn’t fully understand what he meant at the time but later on I understood what he meant but I did understand when I tried a new workout or went back to school, etc.

The reality of new pain is that it is often the barrier that we must surpass in order to reach our goals, be it spiritually, emotionally, or physically. I think what prevents us from growing is that we love old pain. Old pain hurts in ways that are familiar and even if new pain hurts less, it is still unfamiliar. As you think about your life, are you afraid of new pain or inspired by new pain? Most everyone has goals but its enduring new pain that separates goals that are met versus goals that are desired.

I believe that our pain is elongated unnecessarily due to how we ourselves frustrate the grace that God has already provided. Painful or difficult times often inspire prayers that God take away our pain. However, when Paul pleaded that God take away the thorn in his flesh, God replied in II Corinthians 12:8-9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. God did not take away Paul’s pain so it’s important to focus not on the pain but on the grace that God gives us to endure.

Life has a way of bringing new pain regardless of whether you ask for it but in 2013, let’s all endeavor to seek out new pain, the pain worthy of our goals.