Pain is our common denominator.
It is the one thing that ties us all together and the universal language that we all speak; some more fluently than others. If I were to pass the preverbal microphone, I would hear the gory details of your own heart wrenching experiences.
We cannot always control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond. This includes how we frame our painful experiences as well as our reactions to them. These two things are paramount in determining how we process through, and live life after our pain. As I continue to chronicle through the most painful period of my life, I'm committed to not wasting my pain. I believe pain can even be useful.
Before you scroll past this point and write me off as a martyr, consider James 1:3-4 which has become a precious passage of scripture in recent years and a constant reminder that my pain is actually working for me, not against me.
"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience inside of you, so that you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."
I've often wanted to be a fly on the wall when Mary Magdalene poured her expensive oil on Jesus's feet. I have a tendency to put myself in scripture to make it come alive in my mind. This was some dinner party and quite the motley crew! You had Martha frying the fish and setting the table- you know- doing what Martha does. The owner of the house was a leper who had been healed as well as a Pharisee, riddle me that. I'm sure he was thrilled to have company after who knows how long! Lazarus had just been raised from the dead. Then there were the disciples, Pharisees, Mary Magdalene who some of the men in the room may have known in the "biblical" sense of the word, and of course JESUS. Wow!
At some point during the evening, Mary whipped out her alabaster box and started anointing Jesus in front of everybody which I'm sure appeared a little scandalous to most onlookers given her checkered past- but Jesus didn't stop her. I can hear the collective gasp that filled the room along with the sweet smell of pure nard. I imagine the eyes of the Pharisees darting back and forth as they exchanged looks, muttering sarcastic one-liners under their breath. Radical worship always looks too extravagant to religious people.
When I looked closer, I was shocked at what I saw flowing from that precious jar of oil- experiences, life, stories, tears. We have no idea what it cost her to afford such an expensive vat of oil, but for a woman in those days with no real vocation and a reputation for being a little "loose", it's likely that this was her prized possession. With every ounce that poured out, she probably remembered what it took for her to "earn" that expensive perfume and how grateful she was to have received the FREE gift of salvation!
I submit to you...she didn't just pour perfume, she poured out her pain. In a room of onlookers, with everyone projecting their opinions of what they thought she was doing and why they thought she was doing it she remained focused on the One who was worthy- the One who knew her best. She was able to drown out distractions, internal and external, to lavish love on God. What they thought was wasted, was really worship.
This is my admonishment to you. Don't waste your pain in self-pity. A fair life is a fantasy. We live in a fallen world where many things will happen....and God will not always stop it, but He will always be with you. Ecclesiastes 9: 11 says that "...time and chance happen to us all". But, He is Lord even over the "happenings" in your lives. Yes, you will have many invitations to wallow, but choose to worship instead.
Pour...no...invest your pain in the Presence of God. Watch Him yield great dividends. I can testify that God will cause ALL things to work together for your good! He promised, He is able, and He will do it.
In the meantime, sow in tears so you can reap in Joy! :)
Comments