Bearing Through The Pain

The last few days have not been easy. In fact, the word that comes to mind is excruciating. It's really in both of my hands and forearms. But more so in my right as my carpal tunnel syndrome sends shockwaves of pain shooting out my right pointy finger knuckle and up through my arm and bicep every time I try to lift myself up in my chair for pressure relief or push myself around in my wheelchair.

The answer seems simple... STOP lifting yourself up all the time, right?! Ya, not so simple. If I don't keep doing my pressure relief, I run the risk of developing another pressure wound. So I push through it. I grimace and try to ignore the pain as I push through the excruciating electric shocks from my nerves. Well, that, and pop Tylenols every 4 hours.

An interesting thought came to mind though yesterday. I found myself pondering, in what ways does the imago Dei (image of God) reflect pain?

Emotional Abandonment

Starting from the beginning, I don't think we really give enough attention to the feelings of abandonment God must have felt when Adam & Eve hid in the garden of Eden, following their disobedience to his commands. Seriously, it describes God wandering through the foliage looking for them while calling for their response. How long do you suppose he had to search for them before they came out from their hiding spots?! I can't imagine the emotional feeling of abandonment God must have felt as they neglected his desire to be with them even in their "sinful" state. And that was just the first time!

So many more accounts of humanity abandoning the desire to experience God's presence are told in scripture. Even as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and trial, his friends and followers simply left him alone to pray as they went of to "get a few winks" before the great denial.

Physical Pain

It's probably a bit of stating the obvious but, Jesus crying from the cross, "Eli! Eli! Lama Sabbachthani?!" ("My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?!") — sure seems like an excruciating cry of physical pain while dying, to me. After having 4" nails driven through your wrists and ankles into a corse wooden cross after having been scourged and beaten with 40 lashes to your back... it had to of physically hurt… just a bit. ;)

But what about before the incarnation? Did Yahweh God experience physical pain?

As a boy I remember the very vivid image from the story of Daniel when a ghostly finger, presumably God's, appeared before Nebuchadnezzar and his guests while writing in blood on the wall. Have you ever asked yourself whose blood it was to which it was writing with?! Maybe I'm stretching the imagination a bit but, perhaps the Babylonians rebelling against Yahweh God brought him actual physical harm leading to the bleeding of his embodiment or anthropomorphism.

Spiritual Pain

Ok, one more to keep the wholistic picture. Paul says, "the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." (Rom. 8:26) It seems likely that God's Spirit also wrestles with spiritual grief to the state of his creation. I don't presume to know how this sounds in the divine sense. Could God have wrestled also with self doubt? There were occurrences when God expressed remorse for that which he had created. Is this a form of spiritual pain?

In any sense of the understanding, it would seem God's greatest spiritual pain seemed to be from his disconnection in relationship with his prized creation.

I am sure there are more examples of God experiencing pain that you can come up with. Why not join me in the meditation and leave me a few of your thoughts in the comments as to where you see how God experiences pain.

But before I go, maybe a few thoughts on how God dealt with his pain, too.

Creative Expressionism

It wasn't all roses but, when Adam and Eve finally came out of their hiding spots, God got creative. He made fashionable garments for them! ;) In retrospect, I think it is intriguing that in a sense, God showed Adam & Eve how to "hide" themselves correctly with dignity, reverence, and respect. Perhaps another leap but, how might I/we learn to embrace our pain with the same creativity; learning to "cloth" our anguish with dignity and respect while also being honest and openly vulnerable to those who care for us? Or, treat and create spaces of dignity and reverence for those who are suffering and in pain?

Being Present With Others Who Are In Pain

Another story in the book of Daniel tells about Shadrach, Meshach, & Abendigo when they were sent into a fiery furnace. Story is told that standing there in the midst of the flames appeared not three individuals, but four! The miracle says that none were scorched or burned. But, maybe it tingled a bit? Either way, I am sure the trauma of deaths emanate threat was physiologically unbearable! It was here in the state of expectant death that God met with these three and stayed with them throughout the ordeal of their torment.

Perhaps this is not necessarily a promise of assumed deliverance but, God's presence with us through the hardest parts of our life despite his own anguish seems an assured commitment.

Fervent Prayer

Earlier I mentioned Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and his disappointment in the disciples abandoning him in "his hour of need". But, it was here that he also returned to an ever deeper desire to be in prayer with his Father. So much so that his own body shows his fervency with drops of blood intermingling with his own sweat.

I know when I am struggling particularly with pain, it is difficult to focus on conversation and words of prayer. During those times I often pick up a devotional or book of prayers to read aloud in hopes God might hear my cries within an other’s words. The Psalms can also work this way, too. I'll write a Psalm out and then write my own responses between the verses.

This post has been one of those expressions, hasn't it? Well, it has certainly given me some comfort in my own pain as I reflect on God... bearing through the pain with me. Maybe you too. I'm sure I've missed lots here in other ways God shows his pain and how he deals with it. Let me know your thoughts in these reflections and lets build on this meditation of the imago Dei together.