Ow!
Ow! While reaching in precariously close to the oven’s side, my hand ventured off path and collided with the burning hot metal. Instantly, even faster, the pain registered from finger to brain and back again, making it sear with pain. This is usually not a happy moment at all, and quite frankly was still not at the time, as I shook my finger with a yelp of pain and ran to the cold water at the sink to find relief.
Once my focus was drawn away from my finger and the pain, though it still reached for my attention with its pulsing and sting, the wonder hit me. “That was so amazing!” I thought. To think about how fast my body reacted to the burn and that the reaction is to stop and fix it. INSANE!
Even in the simplest terms the process is so intricate. When a nerve is all of the sudden detached and free from the damage to it, special nociceptors sense it and move into action. Rushing to your spine, they synapse (which is a whole other wonder!) to neurons which then enter a ‘super highway’ to your brain stem and from there to places all over your brain, which is still unknown by humans exactly how this “pain info” is processed there. So, by the miracle of God some signals go from the motor cortex back down the spine to the motor nerves in your hand to trigger just the contraction enabling you to quickly pull your hand away in a mere instance, AN INSTANCE! It’s only the beginning. I could stand dumbfounded in awe at this creation, and it is just one of millions God has created in our body!
Pain– “a signal that the body has been damaged or something is wrong; or a signal which told us to stop what we were doing or to take alternative action”. I love our creative Father, to have given us the sense of pain is such a gift. Just think what would happen if I couldn’t have felt the burn… goodbye hand that’s what. To be able to sense something and know immediately it’s dangerous and hurtful without seeing it or having to consider if it is is a miracle. What’s more is God has graciously mirrored this in our hearts.
My hand hurt because it came in contact with something dangerous. The culprit: hot metal. Simple.
My heart can hurt because it comes in contact with something dangerous. The culprit: sin. Simple?
Just like hand to hot metal, the heart reacts to sin in pain. It’s an indicator that has been put in us to protect us.Pain is not a punishment, it’s a protector. Pain tells us to “stop what we are doing and take alternative action”. Oh, so brilliant. When our heart hurts we are instinctively told to stop and run to the alternative of sin, who is Christ!
Yet, we often don’t make it out to be so simple.
Why do I so often run to sin, the culprit of my pain, to look for relief? I might as well shove my whole arm in the oven! Truthfully, it makes no sense, but I often see it as the fast way out. It would be much faster to just shake off the pain, say everything is ok, and continue to cook, but if the burn is bad enough it will blister, ooze, and bleed. Then you have an infection getting worse, and on top of that, one that is contaminating everything else. An infected wound is one ugly thing, just think of an infected heart… ya, nasty.
For my hand, I ran to the cold water, put ointment on the burn, and covered it with a bandage. Soon enough, it was healed. It may have taken some effort, but made it so much better. Christ has offered to do all this for our hearts. There will be many wounds. We are like little kids gone outside to play, coming back with cuts and bruises. Praise be to our Father, who awaits with first aid with bandages of every size. He is the healer of our heart every time. All we have to do is stop…and allow him to heal.
Water: “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17
Ointment: “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil (Holy Spirit) in the name of the Lord.” James 5:14
Bandage: “You (Christ) forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.” Psalm 85:2
Stop: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14
Check your heart free from pride: “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Psalm 10:4
Turn to Christ: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… “Isaiah 53:4
Remember: ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Lengthened wonder of pain: http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/pain2.htm
