You step on something sharp. "Ouch!" You lean against a hot curling iron. "Hey!" You get a blister from raking leaves all day. "Ooh!"

Pain. I've sometimes wondered why God created us with an ability to feel pain. It really hurts. Pain is not a pleasant experience.

I'm learning that pain is a God-given mechanism that alerts our body to something that is wrong. The "pain sensors" all over our body provide a type of feedback system to our brain, alerting us to sensitive areas that have been damaged or injured.

Does pain have a purpose? Did God goof up when he created us to feel pain?

Take a look at Leprosy, known today as Hansen's disease. This condition attacks the nervous system, disabling the body's ability to feel pain. "Great," you would think. "No more pain. No more back aches." The problem with this condition is that a person can not feel the pain of an injury and, therefore, are prone to severely damaging a hand, a foot, a finger, a leg or an arm.

Pain is also part of the healing process. We guard a scrape on our leg, limp to avoid stepping on an injured ankle, bandage an infected splinter that is tender to the touch. Our pain sensors are screaming for time to heal.

Yet, a person who can't feel pain complicates their injury by not allowing it to heal properly. Without pain, they slowly destroy themselves.

In God's grand design, pain has a purpose. It points us to deeper issues that need attention. It may be medical; it may be a need for rest; it may be a time of healing.

Panic attacks cause serious pain--emotional, spiritual and even physical. The mental pain of panic attacks, like an injured hand, should force us to look at what's causing the pain.

For some, there is a physical chemical imbalance causing these attacks. For others, the pain is rooted deep in a past full of hurts and haunts. Yet for others, the pain may be spiritual, directly related to the unseen world around us.

This week, I encourage you to find the purpose for your pain. God desires that you walk in freedom and peace. Pain is one of God's way of pushing us to that place of healing.

Call out to God in prayer. Seek him for your pathway to peace. When you call to him in Jesus' name, he will answer. He is a Father who cares for his children more than you can ever know.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).

Blessings!

Russell

P.S. Sorry for the late message. My email system has been down all weekend.

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|  Russell Pond     <><
|  Season of Peace
|  email:  ponder@season.org
|  web:    http://www.season.org

© Russell Pond 1999
Reprinted with permission