Play through the Pain

Scripture I'm reflecting on:  1 Peter 9
     . . . Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

The "him" in this passage refers to Satan.  When you are feeling down, when you are struggling, suffering, what better time for Satan to pounce?

Reflection:
How easy it is for us to think we are the only ones in the world suffering when something is going wrong in our life.  But is this really true?  Certainly not.  When we get a bad test score, is there not someone else who just got fired from their job?  When we lose a loved one, is there not someone else who just found out they had a terminal illness?  You get the point.  So what does Peter tell us to do?  Remember our brothers and sisters.  What do I read this to mean?  When we're feeling down, when we're suffering, when something bad happens to us...this is our time to go out and help our fellow brothers and sisters, not sit around in self-pity.

My running blog theme is that it's really easy to be a good Christian when things are going well.  But when something bad happens to us, its easy for us to go into "self-pity", and "take a seat on the sidelines" of being a Christian for awhile.  But do we think this would please God?  What about if when we are down, when something bad happens to us, or when we are battling through a life crisis, we make an extra effort to go help someone else in need?  Would this please God?  I certainly think that it would.

Anyone that played sports probably had a coach at some point tell them to "play through the pain."  In a sense, I think Peter is telling us to do that in this verse.  Don't let your problems take you out of the game, out of your Christian ways.  Find the strength to use this time to help someone else who is suffering like you.  Stay in the game.  Play through the pain.  If you are going through a divorce, a crisis, an illness; show your faith in God by continuing to be a diligent Christian:  show up to work on time, hold the door open for a neighbor, say thank you at the store, smile to the cashier, say have a nice day when dealing with a customer, greet strangers with a smile.  Don't let people see your suffering inside.  Be strong.  Be steady.  Play through the pain.  God will most certainly be pleased when he sees this.

It's easy to get defensive against this concept.  I know I have a tendency to think, "no one understands my pain."  "Why me, this isn't fair."  Blah blah.  There are very few people in this world who can truly say "no one has it worse than me."  There's always someone else suffering with us.  But the Bible is very clear:  there is life after the pain, there is life after the divorce, there is life after the cancer, there is life after your family loss.  Whether it is in this life or in heaven, as long as we do not lose faith, we should take comfort in the fact that there will be "light at the end of the tunnel."  So why not play through the pain when it comes, and do something that will please God even in the midst of our low points.

Imagine if everyone who had pain in their life sought out to help someone else in pain.  What a pleasant thought indeed.

Final Thought:
The story of Job pretty much sums up this concept.  Job suffered more than anyone reading this could even imagine.  But after this suffering, Job got everything he had before....doubled...  What will be your after this?  After this divorce.  After this disease.  After this job loss.  After this loss.  What will lead to a better after this?  Sitting on the sidelines waiting for our wounds to heal, or playing through the pain, helping others, and keeping our faith in the midst of our suffering.

I have two quotes that I wrote down from a past service I attended a few weeks ago that seem to fit into this writing:
"Scars will be stars for the Glory of God"
"Praising instead of complaining, nothing makes Satan tremble more"

No one expects much out of someone who is suffering.  What better opportunity could you ask for to show off your faith, the Glory of God, then to do something truly helpful, truly "Christian", in the midst of this suffering.