Pain is a part of life here on earth.  We all know it in different degrees, but how can a person be relieved when the pain is severe?  Pain can be debilitating and all-consuming.  Those experiencing it search for answers in every possible avenue, from conventional medicine to alternative therapies.  Sometimes there is relief, sometimes not.  Watching a loved one in pain is also difficult and leads to feelings of helplessness.  As Christians, of course we pray for healing, but sometimes God our Father allows the pain to continue.

Has our own pain, or seeing a loved one in pain, ever brought us to considering that God could have pain?  Perhaps.  Consider these ideas.  Imagine you have children who make poor decisions.  Perhaps it started in childhood with anger over apparent injustices or hurts.  It can spiral downward and turn to increasingly poor choices and behavior.  God forbid it should continue, but it could.  You would feel a spiritual pain concerning your child’s choices.  Now, let’s take a minute to look at the actual history of mankind.  Created in perfect beauty and harmony, placed in a paradisiacal environment, and given one apparently simple instruction: you can eat from any of these trees except from that tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

We all know the story, even those of us who don’t frequent church settings.  One couple made a poor choice and it’s been downhill every since.  Sure, there have been some upswings, especially when Jesus came into the world.  Imagine our world if Jesus had not come.  We would have all continued that downward spiral with no hindrances.  God our Father tried to spare us.  He really did, and He continues to do so constantly.  That is His constant desire and effort.  So, what about His pain at seeing His own creation, made in His image, both humankind and His paradise world, in such a state as we find ourselves now?

That must hurt.  What would relief from His pain look like?  He is only and always good and only and always wants good for His children.  So, relief from his pain would have to come from us, His children, stopping our sins, turning our lives around so that we could feel comfortable chatting with our dad and having Him feel comfortable with us.

How do we do that?  Read the words of Jesus.  Carry on his legacy.  He gave commandments to his disciples.  We can search out those commandments and make them part of our lives.  Seek Him and He shall be found of you.  (Jeremiah 29:13)  Jesus’ commandments to his friends and disciples are easy to find in a Bible with his words in red print.  Some of them are found in Matthew chapter five.  He expounded on them and demonstrated how to live by them throughout his life.  He himself summarized them:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37 – 40

So … can we stop God’s pain?  Yes, we can.  We can stop sinning and turn to God.  Let’s pray that America, indeed our world, and we all learn to stop sinning.