The ‘Gift’ Nobody Would Ever Ask to Receive

Years ago, I reached a conclusion: “Pain wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t hurt so much.” Many people have experienced more pain than me, but I’ve had my share. Recovering from open-heart surgery was the worst, but even severe sore throats and smashed toes are no walk in the park. I’ve encountered enough pain to know it’s not something anyone seeks.

 

However, strange as it may seem, pain might actually be a gift, even though it’s doubtful anyone would put it on their wish list. How can we consider pain a “gift”? For starters, our bodies use pain as a signal that something is wrong. 

Chest pressure – which cardiologists regard as pain – was my first symptom that something was awry with my heart and its supporting arteries. My post-surgery pain served as a consistent reminder not to overdo as I worked through the long recovery process.

 

But it doesn’t take something as serious as heart problems or cancer for pain to take on the unlikely guise of a gift. Imagine stubbing your toe. Immediately pain sensors send signals to your brain alerting you that you’ve made undesirable contact with your living room coffee table. What if you didn’t feel your toe banging the coffee table and you stubbed it again…and again? Your initial bruise might turn into damage of much greater magnitude. 

 

This is a problem some people suffering from diabetes, leprosy, neuropathy, and other maladies face on a daily basis. If nerves become desensitized and can’t give painful notice of injury, the situation can become exacerbated to the point of requiring a trip to the emergency room.

 

Author Philip Yancey has spent much of his writing career exploring the subject of pain and its ramifications. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and The Gift Nobody Wants are just two of the books he’s written the deal with the topic. Much of his insight came from working with Dr. Paul Brand, who dedicated many years of his medical career to ministering to leprosy patients. 

 

In another of his books, Where Is God When It Hurts?, Yancey writes, “Pain is not God’s great goof. The sensation of pain is a gift – the gift nobody wants. More than anything, pain should be viewed as a communication network. A remarkable network of pain sensors stands guard duty with the singular purpose of keeping me from injury.”

 

Yancey certainly isn’t an advocate for pain, acknowledging it can cause misery whether short-term or long-term, especially for sufferers of diseases like crippling arthritis or terminal cancer. But he notes, “for the majority of us, the pain network performs daily protective service.” Then he quotes the late Dr. Brand who said, “Ninety-nine percent of all the pains the people suffer are short-term pains: correctable situations that call for medication, rest, or a change of a person’s lifestyle.”

 

Where does pain fit within God’s plan for his people? We can look at this from several angles. Jesus Christ was no stranger to pain. He suffered the emotional pain of being misunderstood as well as rejection. He suffered through hunger, thirst and temptation, as Hebrews 2:18 states: “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

 

The Lord endured the agony most of us have experienced, the pain of loss. Upon arriving at Bethany after His friend Lazarus had died and had already been in a tomb for four days, John 11:35 tells, “Jesus wept.”

 

Each of the four gospels recount the unimaginable pain and suffering Jesus went through, being tortured during a mock trial before being crucified and becoming the atoning sacrifice for our sins. This fulfilled a prophecy presented in Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.”

 

But what about us as Christ’s followers? Can’t God spare us from pain, much as a parent would desire to do for a beloved child? We’re told pain is part of what we might call a believer’s ‘job description.’ As the apostle Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

 

Sometimes God allows His people to experience pain as part of His process for transforming them into the individuals He desires for them to be; to shape our character. One of these traits is humility, which Paul referenced when he wrote: 

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ …That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am we, then I am strong [in Christ]” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

 

No, pain is not something we seek. No reasonably minded person asks for it. But in our walk of faith, the Scriptures assure us that when God allows pain in our lives, He has a reason for it. It’s still true “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Perhaps in our painful times, short-term or long-term, our question should not be “Why?” but rather, “What?” What is the Lord seeking to teach us, to do in our lives – or through our lives? 

Accepting the Gift Nobody Wants

What was the worst gift you ever received? A gaudy tie for Father’s Day? Or a nifty kitchen appliance when you really were hoping for a romantic gift, like flowers or jewelry? 

A well-intended aunt had a habit of giving some of the most undesirable gifts you could imagine. One Christmas when I was a teenager she gave me several pairs of stretchy red, yellow and white socks, not remotely on my wardrobe wish list.

We enjoy receiving gifts we want. But have you ever thought about pain being a “gift”? That’s the contention of author Philip Yancey and the late Dr. Paul Brand, who collaborated on several books exploring the problem of pain from a spiritual perspective. One of their books is titled, PAIN: The Gift Nobody Wants.

In another of Yancey’s books, Where Is God When It Hurts?, he introduces Dr. Brand, a physician who devoted his life to living and working with leprosy patients in different parts of the world. A great danger these individuals faced, Brand discovered, was suffering or worsening injuries due to an inability to feel pain.

Yancey writes, “Pain is not God’s great goof. The sensation of pain is a gift – the gift that nobody wants. More than anything, pain should be viewed as a communication network. A remarkable network of pain sensors stands guard duty with the singular purpose of keeping me from injury…. For the majority of us, the pain network performs daily protective service. It is effectively designed for surviving life on this sometimes hostile planet.”

He quotes Brand who, drawing from decades of professional experience, determined, “…as a physician I’m sure that less than one percent of pain is in this category we might call out of control. Ninety-nine percent of all pain that people suffer are short-term pains: correctable sensations that call for mediation, rest, or a change in a person’s lifestyle.”

This seems counterintuitive. We recoil at even the thought of pain, seeking to avoid it if possible. Over-the-counter pain medications fly off the shelves at pharmacies and retail stores. Stringent restrictions now govern opiates and other prescription pain medications, seeking to curb epidemic abuse. Many people attempt to avoid or overcome pain by other means, ranging from alcohol and recreational drugs to immersing themselves into various forms of distraction.

But could it be, as Yancey suggests, that “pain is not God’s great goof”? Twelve years ago, while power-walking, I felt unusual chest pressure and soreness in my left arm and wrist. I’d never experienced those sensations before, so when they recurred the next day, I had the good sense to consult my physician. 

A battery of tests determined I not only had several arterial blockages, but also an enlarged aorta which could have taken my life. I had not felt the severe chest pain often depicted on TV and in films, but that pressure was still deemed “pain” by the doctors who diagnosed my problems and performed surgery.

If we’re hammering a nail and hit our thumb instead, pain alerts us so we don’t keep whacking away and exacerbate the hurt. 

One of the problems diabetics often face is that over time, nerve endings become desensitized. As a result, they can suffer bruises or more serious injuries, even aggravate them, without being aware of it because they don’t feel pain to alert them of the damage.

A great example of pain is found in the Old Testament book of Job. In a devastating series of events, Job lost his worldly possessions, his children, and his health. The only thing he didn’t lose was his wife. When she told him to “curse God and die,” Job might have wondered why she was still around.

Job presents a classic discourse on the problem of pain, the subject of countless books, sermons and articles. One important thing to remember is that even in the depths of Job’s misery, the Lord was never absent. As the account of God’s sovereignty and grace concludes, we even see Job’s fortunes reversed.

The apostle Paul suffered from some persistent malady, although we’re not told what it was. He wrote, “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 2:7-10).

Sometimes, as Paul said, it’s only through weakness – through pain – that we can experience God’s grace most profoundly.

Hard as it may seem, the next time we feel a twinge, an ache, or even a stabbing pain, before rushing for an immediate remedy, maybe we should first thank God for His “gift.” We can also cling to the promise from the Bible’s last book: “He will wipe away ever tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”  (Revelation 21:4).