16 - Hurts Like Hell

B-RAD with Brad Toews

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C.S. Lewis

Pain as Teacher

In her raw, deeply-moving and well-written memoir "Love Warrior", Glennon Doyle Melton says that pain is like a traveling professor. When pain knocks on the door — wise ones breathe deep and say: “Come in. Sit down with me. And don’t leave until you’ve taught me what I need to know.”

Hard words to read. Hard words to live.

Is it possible to invite pain into our life? Or at least not slam the door when it shows up?

Slamming the door on our pain looks like numbing, addictions, distractions, and blame; unhealthy relationships with people, substances, and self.

But pain will keep showing up in our life, circling back around; the teacher knocking, asking to visit. Do you want to deal with this now? Are you ready to invite me in so I can teach you some stuff?

And as Doyle Melton's story proves, saying yes to the invitation of pain allowed character, strength, and resilience to surface in her life. The good stuff beneath the dirt comes out, not in spite of the pain, but because of the pain.

There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.

Pain shows up in our life, whether we want it or not, from the wounds and brokenness of ourselves and everyone around us. We need light to see the extent of those wounds, to clean them out, be stitched up, and to heal. And ironically, we need our brokenness to let our inner light shine through.

The places we've been battered around aren't meant to be patched over, hidden, or ignored. They become our strength, our song, our story.

Have you seen the movie "The Shack"? It's based on the book by the same title by William Paul Young

When Mack, the main character of the movie meets God at the Shack, the place of his deepest pain and sorrow, he asks, why did you bring me back here, to my lowest of lows?

Why bring me to this place that hurts like hell?

The God character answers, because this is where you got stuck in your pain. And to move forward, for you to be whole and complete, this hell has to be dealt with.

The possibility of pain

Pain happens in our life. It's part of being human. We don't choose pain but we do have a choice in how we respond to pain. We can suppress and bury our pain or we can sit with it and learn from it.

I want to live in a world of positivity, determination, good ideas, passion, and inspiration. Honestly, I want to transcend a lot of the muck and mire of life. I'd like to live without pain. But there is a mystery at work in pain. It's an invitation, a portal to uncover strength, light, and love from a reservoir deep within.

We don't uncover these characteristics in ourselves by avoiding pain but by letting pain teach us its lessons.

Join me in this episode as I reminisce about dislocating my shoulder, four times (these are not happy memories), talk about the things that hurt like hell, and consider the possibility of pain to produce something profound in us.

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