It's GOING To Hurt!

"I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.”

John 16:33 

 

I remember going through hand-to-hand combat training in the Army.  Most of us didn't fare so well against the instructor.  Partly because he was much larger than we were; partly because he had been doing it a lot longer than we had; but mainly because he knew the secret.  After tossing us around like ping-pong balls for a couple of hours, he made us all sit against the wall and said, "Let me tell you why TRUE Warriors are successful...TRUE Warriors KNOW it's going to hurt!  If you can accept that it's GOING to hurt, you will stop being afraid and you will be keep fighting!" 

 

I wish I could say that his peptalk gave us what we needed to toss HIM around like a used rag, but it didn't.  But I can tell you that we stopped being afraid of the pain and we improved every time we practiced.

 

When I was a child, every time the doctor had to give me an injection, I would tense up and try to anticipate the pain of the needle and it ALWAYS felt as if he had punched me.  That it, until I learned to relax and accept that it was going to hurt.  Did it still hurt?  Well YEAH, it's a sharp harpoon entering my body. But the pain was more tolerable.

 

History lesson: the Spartans were considered one of the most formidable fighting forces ever put together.  They began warrior training shortly after a child could walk.  The first thing the new warrior hopefuls learned was that "it's gonna hurt."  The older warriors pulled no punches and never went easy on the trainees.  Why? Because they had to accept that their enemies were not going to go easy on them, and their comrades needed them to fight beside them.  

 

We go through life and get upset every time something painful happens.  We forget that Jesus told us, "In the world you WILL HAVE TROUBLE."  He makes no bones about it.  Life in this world is going to be painful!  Let's face facts: Life here on this spinning marble is going to be painful!  We may lose jobs; we may run out of money; relationships may end; people may turn their back on us; IT'S GONNA HURT!!  

But here's the most wonderful news ever!  We weren't put on this earth alone and we don't go through life alone.  One of the reasons there are so many of us on this earth is to remind us that we don't have to go it alone!  We can come alongside others who are in pain and help them.  When we are in pain, others can come alongside us and help us.  The key is accepting that we are in pain and being willing to reach out for help.

Jesus promised that He had overcome the world.  Yet He still had to deal with the pain of being tortured to death, as well as, the pain of His Disciples abandoning Him, AND Peter denying Him.  Yet Jesus kept going through it. 

We aren't home yet.  Our purpose on this Earth is not completed yet.  Don't give up, even when (and especially when) life hurts!