By Pastor Rodney Tilley
This last week I had to go for a doctor’s visit and an outpatient procedure in El Paso, and for this particular set of events you have to go through an awful time of prep pain, or so it seemed to me. It is something you don’t have to do often, but you do remember the sequence of events and the suffering you have to endure for a couple of days. I can’t say it was fun, but to be honest it was well worth it. I learned a few things, took a few days to recover, and found out exactly what I needed to know, and as they say, “No Pain No Gain”.
However, I wish that was not true for there is a lot of pain in the world that should be teaching us what we need to know and that should be good life lessons for us to learn, but it seems few are learning. On Sunday mornings when you wake up with a hangover and a good headache, you should learn not to do that again. When your spouse throws you out of the house for treating her as a slave, you should learn something. Pain is the great teacher, teaching us things to avoid and teaching us how to behave. It is a real pain I know to admit we are wrong. It is a real pain to have to say we are sorry. It is real pain to admit that our philandering is ruining families and lives, including your own. It pains to say the words, “I am a drug addict,” or worst still to say, “I am a drug dealer.” Yes, it is not all that fun to admit we have made mistakes and we are going down the wrong road.
That is why the Bible talks a lot of repentance and getting rid of the pain of sin, guilt, and unforgiveness. Repentance is not a fun word, but it brings great results. It may be a pain to have to say to God, “You are right and I am wrong, forgive me,” but as soon as you do, life begins anew with a joy and a peace only God can give. I have experienced pain and you have too, for the world is filled with agony, bitterness, hatred, and anger, but believe me there is a better way.
Jesus said, “I have come so that you may have life, and John reminds us again that, “He who has the Son (Jesus) has life.” (I John 5:12). The Bible talks of joy and peace, light and love, care and giving, but it also talks about suffering and weeping as well, but with a twist. Psalms 30:5 tells us “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Pain? Yes, it may come, but it only shows us what we need to do, where the healing needs to take place, and where correction needs to come. It may have been for you like me found only in the hospital ward, but it was worth the pain. I found out what was wrong and it can be corrected, and that my friend is what Jesus keeps saying over and over again, and he is saying it now, “Come” and let Jesus heal your heart, soul, and body. Aren’t you tired of being in pain?
For more information call: Pastor Rodney Tilley at 432-207-0015.
