The problem with pain
We have all experienced pain. This sentence is a stand-alone statement that does not require additional comment or research outside of our own experiences. This website discusses and describes pain such as PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Moral Injuries, and the like, and yet these are often not considered as pain by many people outside looking in.
So? How do we define pain? Is it merely physical? Let’s consider a couple of definitions.
According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, pain is described as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.”
In this particular definition, the article being cited continues to include this thought for consideration, “The inability to communicate verbally does not negate the possibility that an individual is experiencing pain and is in need of appropriate pain-relieving treatment. Pain is always subjective. … Many people report pain in the absence of tissue damage or any likely pathophysiological cause; usually this happens for psychological reasons.”
(Treede RD. The International Association for the Study of Pain definition of pain: as valid in 2018 as in 1979, but in need of regularly updated footnotes. Pain Rep. 2018 Mar 5;3(2):e643. doi: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000643. PMID: 29756089; PMCID: PMC5902252.)
Another definition of pain is, “complex experience consisting of a physiological and a psychological response to a noxious stimulus. Pain is a warning mechanism that protects an organism by influencing it to withdraw from harmful stimuli; it is primarily associated with injury or the threat of injury.”
(Meldrum, M. L. (2023, July 26). pain. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/pain)
How do these definitions compare with your experiences? It is important to note as the IASP (Treede RD.) study reveals - the inability to communicate verbally does not negate (nor devalue) the experience of pain, and in fact, the person experiencing pain may be in need of a pain-relieving treatment that is appropriate for them.
Pain is not merely physical and physiological, but often hidden, psychological, and yet the articles do not consider a hidden wound or pain (which cannot be seen) to be a spiritual wound or pain caused by trauma to the person’s real self. The injury is real, although unseen, the injury causes a fight, flight, freeze response to protect the individual or entity from further pain, and often as the Britannica (M.L. Meldrum, 2023) relays - is a warning mechanism and results in withdrawal.
PTSD and Depression cause (often-times but not always) withdrawal from self, from family, from employment, from life. How do we guard against this? What are safeties in place to help manage and walk through pain?
When we have a dislocated bone, we will seek appropriate medical interventions from a specialist called an orthopedist, so when we have hidden wounds of the soul, shouldn’t we go to the One who Specializes in that area?
Psychologists, Therapists, Psycho-interventionists, Clinicians, and other counselors have their place and yet what place do we give to God Almighty in our spiritual pleas of pain? Do you go to a counselor? That is alright, but do you go right to the Living God who cares for you more than any other?
There is a problem of pain, and yet in our pain, we have opportunity to praise God, to thank Him for all our blessings, and in this - the pain may be healed, the pain may lessen, but I can say that the pain will pale in comparison to the greatness of our God.
In Genesis 3:16-19 we understand that pain came in as part of the curse that the entire human race is under. Women will bear children in pain, and men by the toil and sweat from their brow will eat of the fruits of the earth. Pain can also present opportunities to draw near to God, to glorify Him as God and Creator.
Pain will one day be no more for those who are a part of the family of God. In Revelation 21:4 we read, “He will wipe away every 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.”
This is for those who have believed in Jesus Christ. What a promise from the old order of things here, the old order of the curse of sin and death, unto the newness of eternal life without death, mourning, crying, or pain.
Can we endure here for but a minute longer? Life appears to feel like a minute, or for a moment at times doesn’t it? Yet eternal life is forever, without the things of this life. We will be satisfied in heaven with our Lord.
I cannot give a full response to the problem of pain, although many have studied it with great interest. I cannot satisfactorily define it for you in your struggles with personal pain, nor can I offer a resolution for it, Doctors and medical professionals have looked into it for years, and are still seeking resolutions.
What I can offer is this - the apostle Paul says that he would much rather boast in his infirmities so that the power of Christ may rest upon him (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Years ago, Phillip Yancey and Paul Brand wrote a book called; “Pain: The Gift that Nobody Wants.” - in this text they point out that there is a tragedy to living a life without pain. Dr. Brand worked with lepers in India, and the inability to feel pain often-times would lead to disability, or early deaths since there is no way to warn the body or fight off things which may be dangerous to it.
(Paul Brand and Philip Yancey, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, (Zondervan, 1993).
Pain can be a gift, even if we are not seeing it in the moment of our own pain. We can grow through pain, we can see things with new eyes, we can have a new opportunity opened to us, we can become more empathetic toward others who are in constant and deep pain. Pain can become in us the opportunity we needed to act, to move on behalf of others, to advocate the deep needs of others.
Pain can grow in us the ability to accept it (not grow depressed and wallow in it), and map out a plan to educate and equip us to move forward.
I don’t like pain, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and yet I have seen growth in myself as I am able to accept certain things about pain, that I may never learn or see apart from it.
What about you? How has your pain moved you to grow in a powerful and positive direction? How has pain caused you to deepen your faith? How has pain motivated you to help others?
Don’t allow the pain of trauma, PTSD or other silent wounds (and physical wounds) to stop you, to cause you to sit and waste and wallow in it. Trust the goodness of the working of the Lord.
Nick Vujicic was born without limbs. Yes, that is right, but he is inspirational and living a full life of blessings. I challenge you, look at his life and ministry to others, and then ask how you can move in the midst of your pain.
“However desperate your life may seem, there is hope. And no matter how dire your circumstances may appear; you can rise above them.”
Nick Vujicic
Life Without Limits