5.19.26 – Choosing Pain and Suffering

The counting of the Omer is winding down—or should I say moving toward the pinnacle :-). We are now on day 45. Less than one week remains before hitting 50: a mini-jubilee—a time of freedom, restoration, and intimacy. With one week to go, the timing begs the question: "What makes life meaningful?" Take the time to think it through before you keep reading.

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The answer is easy to see, but not obvious to our daily mindset: Pain and suffering. Surprise!

Pain and suffering in life cause us to act in ways that make us want to avoid pain. The pain of hunger drives us to eat. The pain of lust causes us to "hoochie-coo" (PG-13). Pain also pushes us away from things that would otherwise hurt us. That all makes sense. But why do we seek out pain and suffering? Why do we choose to inflict pain on ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and financially? Why do we go to movies that scare the heebie-jeebies out of us? Why do we do things like marathons, triathlons, or mud runs? Why do we push ourselves to burning muscles and temporary muscle failure in the gym? Why would anyone do cliff diving, death diving, MMA, boxing, cage fighting, or climb Mount Everest? The common thread? We love to suffer! From big ways to small ways—from eating ghost peppers to hot saunas followed by cold plunges. Lord knows you would not become a parent if you were not a natural-born masochist :-/... it is true. We choose pain and suffering. And strangely enough, we seek it out. Why?

Simply put, you cannot experience good without bad. There is no such thing as pleasure without pain. Happiness does not exist without suffering. In order to experience a big dose of pleasure, we often need a big dose of the opposite. Who wants to play a game where success is always guaranteed and failure is never possible? That would be boring and render success meaningless and unfulfilling. Failure is what makes success meaningful. The contrast is what brings joy to the surface. The good things in life only make sense relative to the "bad" things. If all your experiences are positive, they will eventually not be positive. You need pain in order to experience pleasure, and Lord knows we love pleasure! Suffering is what makes it meaningful.

Do not get discouraged with your suffering. Do not get upset about your failures. Do not seek to avoid pain. All of that apparent negativity is what sets up the joy that you will feel with success, accomplishment, overcoming, and victory. Develop a new relationship with pain and suffering. Do not let it debilitate you; let it liberate you. Let it fuel you and cause you to experience the feeling of being fully alive. Embrace the suffering. Endure the struggle. Without it, life is numb, boring, and meaningless, and ultimately you will neglect the experience that qualifies individuals to rule and reign with Yeshua without it (Luke 24; Rom. 8:16–17; Rev. 3:21; 21:7; Acts 14:22; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:12).

Shalom,
Alan

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