Soul Pain
Monday Morning Commentary
This week Pastor Craig kicked off our August series, “21 grams”. Speaking about the most important part of you: your soul. Pastor Craig preached a sermon entitled, “Soul Pain”.
As humans it is inevitable that we will encounter pain in this life. Looking through scripture we’ll see how people handled their pain differently and how Hannah gives a model of a healthy way to treat untreated pain. What have you done with your pain?
1. King David: medicated his pain. We see that David medicated through having many wives and concubines. Even though he had success and victory from the Lord as king over Israel he continued to have more wives and more concubines. We see that when we medicate our pain, we eventually become addicted to what we medicate with.
2. King Solomon: motivated by his pain. King Solomon achieved a lot as King over Israel, but when looking at all his accomplishments he said it was all meaningless (Ecc. 2:4-11). King Solomon used the pain of being called an illegitimate heir to the throne, as his motivation to achieve more. We see that positive motivation can be a key to success, but painful motivation is just a sickness.
3. King Absalom: meditated on his pain. Because of pain we can make inner vows, that end up causing us more pain and we become that which we hate the most. (i.e. I will never be like my father). We put the emphasis on our strength, and keep our pain in our hands instead of giving it to God.
This is where forgiveness comes in. Forgiveness is one of the hardest teachings we have to apply as Christians. We don’t want to forgive and pretend like we were never hurt, or let the abuser off the hook. But the forgiveness that Jesus modeled does neither of these. Forgiveness doesn’t let them off the hook, it releases them to God, who is the righteous judge.
Who do you need to forgive? What inner vow have you made that is causing you more pain?How did Hannah treat her untreated pain?
1. You have to be honest that you are hurting. Jesus didn’t hide his hurt, Hannah finally stopped hiding her hurt, and we must do that same. God can never heal anything we hide. When we choose to hide our pain, we hand Satan a weapon to use against us.
2. You have to get in God’s presence and give Him the pain. Hannah went into God’s presence every year, but now she decided to give God her pain and that’s when healing came and she bore a son. In the same way, we must be honest when we come before God, and give him our pain and let him heal it.
3. You have to allow God to give your pain a purpose. Hannah have God her pain. God gave Hannah Samuel. And Hannah gave Samuel back to God. Your pain will never fully heal until it is used to heal someone else.
When we come before God, give him our pain, and allow him give us the purpose for our pain, we come to realize that our most painful and bitter seasons will become the potent ingredient for God’s anointing on our lives. How can you get before God this week, and give him your pain, and receive purpose in exchange?