Col. 3:2 Set Your Minds On Things Above, Not On Earthly Things.

Pain makes us think about the pain and not much else. Pain is an earthly thing. In setting our mind on God and His heavenly things, we must do so to try and alleviate some of the effects of what pain does to us. When we set our minds on things above, we take our mind out of this world and put our mind into the heavenly realms. In the heavenly realms we will be fully and totally healed. We will not be suffering. The closer we can come to putting our mind on heavenly things in the here and now, the closer we come to finding a way to deal with our pain. When we do meditation, we can think about heaven or things above rather than the darkness of pain here on earth. In heaven, we have power undreamed of here on earth. Heaven is not our present reality. Heaven is a place we know little about but a place just as real as our present earth. Heaven is a place defined by love and peace flowing from God and Christ the Son.

Job 3:17 There The Wicked Cease From Turmoil, And There The Weary Are At Rest.

In pain we can have a level of madness for the pain makes us do what we might not want to do. In pain, the wicked and evil tentacles of Satan reach out to crush us. In heaven, Satan no longer offends. In heaven, Christ reigns forever and ever. In heaven, all turmoil is gone. The weary find new life where new days of glory abound. In pain, every hour we labor against an invisible foe, but a foe more real than the visible. In heaven, there is. In heaven, the foe is vanquished. Heaven is a place where no evil lives. In heaven, we shall live in a place of purity beyond our capacity to comprehend.

John 14:2 In My Father's House Are Many Rooms; If It Were Not So, I Would Have Told You. I Am Going There To Prepare A Place For You. 3 And If I Go And Prepare A Place For You, I Will Come Back And Take You To Be With Me That You Also May Be Where I Am.

In the pain of our life, we can easily lose hope. In pain, we lose the vision to see ahead to better days. This assertion by Jesus gives us a hope not just for an eternal life, but for an eternal life with Him in heaven. No matter where we live or how we live on earth, pain destroys our ability to actually see and actually be in our surroundings. In heaven, we shall have a house or living space made by God especially for us. Jesus has already prepared a place for each of us. Our place in heaven will suit us in perfect fashion. We can look forward to living in a heavenly community where joy, peace, and love abound. We may never know the earthly dimensions of our mansion in the sky. In fact, there may be no earthly dimensions of our mansion in the sky because earthly dimensions may not apply in heaven. Our heavenly home is a place where we can "be" or exist in perfect harmony with God. We shall work and not grow weary. We shall run and not grow tired. Our pain shall be no more. We shall be perfect in every way.

Hebrews 4:9 There Remains, Then, A Sabbath-Rest For The People Of God;

In our pain we need rest. Many times the pain takes away our ability to rest physically, emotionally, or spiritually. However, no matter how much the pain wears us out, God is our refuge. In Him, we can hide in the cleft of the rock for He is the Cleft. Eventually, when we go home to be with God, with Jesus, and with the angels, we shall have an eternal rest but we shall not sleep. In heaven, our rest shall be instantly complete while we are awake in joy and excitement at finally being home. On earth, in the here and now, even though we are in pain, we can rest in the knowledge God has worked out our future with Him. In only the twinkling of an eye, in only a tiny wisp of a moment, we shall not be here but over there on the golden shore. We shall be free of all alarm, all temptations, all afflictions, and all our pain forever. What a glorious hope we have, knowing our hope shall become reality!

Psalm 42:11 Why Are You Downcast, O My Soul? Why So Disturbed Within Me? Put Your Hope In God, For I Will Yet Praise Him, My Savior And My God.

In pain, we need hope. Without hope, the demons come and dance on our soul. With hope, our soul is not so downcast. In hope, we can look up rather than down. In hope we can see what only God can see. In hope, we can praise God for His power in our life. The hope of Christ is our fuel to keep us going hour to hour. Empowered and fueled up, we do have the capacity to praise God for giving us hope for a better day and a better eternity. The Lord will not disappoint us. The Lord will only lead us to places full of light, love, and hope. In our darkest times, we are not alone. In our loneliness, we are not alone.

Psalm 10:17 You Hear, O Lord, The Desire Of The Afflicted; You Encourage Them, And You Listen To Their Cry,

In our pain, we need a listening ear. We need someone who totally understands us. We need someone to encourage us. We need someone who sees and knows our pain. We have Someone. Our Someone is Jesus. Every time we fall down or fall apart, every time we are so full of pain we cannot see, every time we have no power, He is with us. He is with us to see us through the darkness. He is with us to give us His light so we do not stumble and fall in the dark hours. He is with us to give us power to move about another day. He is with us to bring His peace and love to the world. He does not want us to lose heart. He wants our best even when we are beset by our worst.

Psalm 86:5 You Are Forgiving And Good, O Lord, Abounding In Love To All Who Call To You.

Whenever we are in pain, our ideas and perspectives about God can become distorted. We can think God is the source of our pain when He is not. We can lapse into anger and unrighteousness. We can think no one loves us. We can become isolated and alone. However, God does not conform to our ideas of Him. God is a being of forgiveness. When we hold God to blame for our pain, God forgives us for our error in thinking. God is good in every possible way we can conceive of good and goodness. In all the rotten aspects of our dark present world, God is all goodness and light. In our pain, we must know Him as our God of love. We must remind ourselves God's healing love is for us, in us, all around us, above us, before us, and under us. We must remember God's healing love is infinite.

Psalm 50:15 And Call Upon Me In The Day Of Trouble; I Will Deliver You, And You Will Honor Me.

When we are in trouble…we can call a helpline. We can call a tech support number. Perhaps we can call upon others. However, no person, or company, or entity can help us when we face a real day of trouble.

When the doctor says it's…
When we get a call in the middle of the night saying…
When a loved one calls to tell us the worst about…

When we have a day of trouble we have someone who we can call upon to come to our aid. We have someone who will encourage us to keep going. We have someone who will never leave us or desert us, no matter how much trouble we might face. We are not alone in this world. We have someone with us every moment. His name is Jesus.

Psalm 102:19-20 "The Lord Looked Down From His Sanctuary On High, From Heaven He Viewed The Earth, To Hear The Groans Of The Prisoners And Release Those Condemned To Death."

So often in our pain, we think God is not listening. In our pain, we think He no longer loves us or cares about us. In our pain, we can be mistaken in our thinking God has left us alone, as orphans to be devoured by the darkness. God's reality is just the opposite of what we so easily think about Him. God is with us every moment. God knows our struggles. He hears the groans and pleas of those who suffer. Christ came to the world to release us from the bondage of our sin, our pain, and from death. In Christ, we have life eternal. Because Christ died and rose again for us, we are free. We are free of all our trials the moment Christ calls us home to be with Him in eternity. Someday, we shall be with Him. We shall sail above the clouds and above the stars…to a place where only peace, love, and grace prevail.

Isaiah 63:9 In All Their Distress He Too Was Distressed, And The Angel Of His Presence Saved Them. In His Love And Mercy He Redeemed Them; He Lifted Them Up And Carried Them All The Days Of Old.

In our pain, we must be aware about how much we are carried by the Lord. In our pain and trials, the Lord lifts us up every moment. Christ wants only the best from us and for us. Christ will be our defender all of our days. When trouble befalls us, Christ is with us to see us through our trouble. Christ gave Himself for us so we could be saved through Him. In the last moments of our earthly life, the Lord's angels will stand guard over us until it is time to take us sailing above the clouds into our new eternal home. We should have no concern for our future days because Christ has carved in indelible stone a heavenly destiny for us if we would but call Him Lord.

Hebrews 4:15 For We Do Not Have A High Priest Who Is Unable To Sympathize With Our Weaknesses, But We Have One Who Has Been Tempted In Every Way, Just As We Are--Yet Was Without Sin.

Not only do we have our dreadful pain, we have our dreadful sin. Whether we have pain or not, we must resist every temptation. When we resist, God sees our struggle. He knows how much we hurt during the time we resist. God wants us to be holy and devout. What do we want? Do we want to be holy and devout bad enough to exert our will to resist temptation? We must understand we do not resist temptation alone. Christ is with us as we resist. Christ wants us to resist so we can stay closer to Him. When we do not resist temptation, we fall farther and farther away from Him. If we do not resist, we endanger our soul. Fallen far enough, we reject Christ. Fallen far enough, with our rejection of Christ, we have no hope of ever living beyond our earthly life.

Luke 11:33 No One Lights A Lamp And Puts It In A Place Where It Will Be Hidden, Or Under A Bowl. Instead He Puts It On Its Stand, So That Those Who Come In May See The Light.

We are not to draw attention to the darkness of our pain. We are to show others the Light of Christ. We are to light up the life of others. We are not to diminish others with any kind of darkness. When others face difficulties we are to lighten their load. We are to give encouragement. Our pain is to be used to glorify God without drawing attention to our pain. The light of Christ, the light we are to show others, is the healing light of our Lord. In every matter, whether we are in pain or not, we are to be Christ's child. When we are His child, we begin to light up the part of the world Christ has given us. We do not rule the world. However, God gave us a tiny portion of the world called our life over which we can rule. No matter who we are, or where we are, we are to be Christ's person in all ways at all times. When we have let the light of Christ shine out from within our heart, we will leave the earth better for our being alive.

Psalm 116:1 I Love The Lord, For He Heard My Voice; He Heard My Cry For Mercy. 2 Because He Turned His Ear To Me, I Will Call On Him As Long As I Live. 3 The Cords Of Death Entangled Me, The Anguish Of The Grave Came Upon Me; I Was Overcome By Trouble And Sorrow. 4 Then I Called On The Name Of The Lord: "O Lord, Save Me!"

In our pain, we can reach our moments of desperation. We fall down. We make mistakes. We go the direction opposite of what the Lord wants us to go. We can love what God detests. We can be absorbed in what is sinful. In our fallen state, when we see what we have done, when we cry out to the Lord for mercy, He will come to us. When we are overcome with our sorrow, He will come to us and comfort us. When we have fallen and the chords of death are pulling us down to the pit, Christ Jesus will rescue us from the inescapable darkness. Before we ask Him, He hears our crying. Before we ask Him, He brings us His consolation. Before we ask Him, He cleanses us of every unrighteousness. The Lord's compassion knows no bounds. The Lord's love for us knows no limits.

Matthew 8:17 This Was To Fulfill What Was Spoken Through The Prophet Isaiah: "He Took Up Our Infirmities And Carried Our Diseases."

When we hurt, Jesus knows. Jesus doesn't just intellectually know about our hurt. Jesus knows about our hurt because He has carried and is now carrying our hurt. We do not serve a God who does not want to be a part of our life. We serve a God who IS a part of our life if we ask Him to come into our heart. Our Jesus, will at the end of or life, take all of our hurt, pain, mistakes, and suffering into His nail-scarred hands. He will make every awful moment disappear forever. He will erase every scar with His scars. He will erase every hurt with His love and grace. Although we must wait for Him to do His perfect work in us, while we are waiting He will be with us, telling us how much He loves us in order to give us His sustaining power until the great day of our crossing over to see Him face to face.

Zech. 2:8 For This Is What The Lord Almighty Says: "After He Has Honored Me And Has Sent Me Against The Nations That Have Plundered You--For Whoever Touches You Touches The Apple Of His Eye"

There is a consequence to those who inflict pain and suffering upon others. God is not remote and far off. God deals with people who inflict pain and suffering upon others. We do not always see the consequences of doing evil. Of course, we see the headlines about evil people being punished. What we do not see are the consequences of doing evil for those persons who seem to "get away with it." Be assured, people who seem to "get away with it" will stand before God's judgment seat. No one can escape the infinite hand of God. No one can escape from God's infinite wrath when a person has decided to go against God. It may seem God will let anyone go in any direction they desire. For many people who do not love God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their might, God will let them move out of His protective hand. In our pain and suffering, we can often feel angry God is not helping us. However, we must never move away from Him. Even if we are angry with Him, we must always call Him Lord and do as He asks us to do.

Psalm 142:3 When My Spirit Grows Faint Within Me, It Is You Who Know My Way. In The Path Where I Walk Men Have Hidden A Snare For Me.

Indeed, our spirits do grow faint within us. We face so many obstacles at every point in our life! You would think getting older would be a time when obstacles are few. On Earth, we can live what looks like a perfect life. We can receive the highest rewards and honors given to us by men and women. However, persons who are getting older find they have more obstacles than ever. At every age, we must come against what Satan has designed to destroy us. Yet, for those of us who have accepted Christ as Lord, we shall see Him face to face. When we see Him face to face, He shall give us an eternal life where there are no more obstacles. He shall give us a life where there is no more death, no more crying, and no more mourning. In heaven, we shall not have those who are hiding snares to entrap us. In heaven, we shall have a perfect life forever. Praise His Name. Amen.

Job 23:10 But He Knows The Way That I Take; When He Has Tested Me, I Will Come Forth As Gold.

The prophet named Job knew suffering. Job made an affirmation about what suffering would NOT do to him. Job affirmed God's power in Job's life. Job affirmed suffering would enrich his life, rather than making Job poor. Each of us must affirm our suffering will make us better, not bitter. Each of us must commit our life to become as gold. When we make commitments to be better not bitter, God hears us and God will be with us to give us His power in all matters. God knows our every need. God knows our every hurt and heartache. When we commit our life to walking only God's path, we will always gain more than we could ever lose.

Hebrews 2:18 Because He Himself Suffered When He Was Tempted, He Is Able To Help Those Who Are Being Tempted.

Temptation is suffering. The more we resist temptation, the more suffering we must endure. The pain we suffer, whether from resisting temptation or from other sources, will cause Christ to help us. Christ suffered every possible pain. Christ knows your suffering. Christ knows you suffer. He knows how you suffer and when you suffer. In your pain, Christ will help you. He will help you see over the horizon to a new tomorrow. Christ will give you the power, minute by minute, to deal with every hurt, pain, and trauma. When you are tempted and torn apart, Christ will come to you and help you. Christ understands your temptation. Christ understands how uncontrollable your temptation seems to be. Draw as close as you can to God and Jesus will make you victorious over your every darkness.

Isaiah 53:3 He Was Despised And Rejected By Men, A Man Of Sorrows, And Familiar With Suffering. Like One From Whom Men Hide Their Faces He Was Despised, And We Esteemed Him Not.

When we are in pain, the Lord is with us. He knows our pain. He suffers with us because He lives in our heart. He does not live apart from us in any respect. Every moment of our pain He feels our pain with us. In our dark hours, He calls out to us. In the hours of our darkness, He is with us giving us His comforting love. We need never feel alone, although we do feel alone in our pain. Knowing our sorrows is not enough for Christ. There will come a time, a time of glory, when He will take us to be with Him. There will come a time when He will take us to be with Him and all our suffering will be turned into joy unspeakable.

Col. 2:9 For In Christ All The Fullness Of The Deity Lives In Bodily Form, 10 And You Have Been Given Fullness In Christ, Who Is The Head Over Every Power And Authority.

…you have been given…

In pain, we need. We may not want to need. We may be revolted by the very idea of needing because of our pain. However, whatever needs we have ever had in any respect, shall not be just filled by God, our needs shall be become non-existent in God's infinite love. We have been given all things. We have been given love unbounded. We have been given infinite grace. In our future, in our days yet to be, we shall never have a need of any kind again. Our times of aloneness shall be gone. Our pain shall be no more. Our worry shall vanish. Our regrets shall be vanquished. Whatever kind of life we have known on the earth shall be replaced by the glory and splendor of Almighty God.

Titus 2:13 While We Wait For The Blessed Hope--The Glorious Appearing Of Our Great God And Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 Who Gave Himself For Us To Redeem Us From All Wickedness And To Purify For Himself A People That Are His Very Own, Eager To Do What Is Good.

Under normal circumstances waiting is difficult. When we are in pain, waiting is even more difficult…sometimes waiting seems to be impossible because of our pain. When we are in pain and we must wait we need to rest our heart, mind, and soul in the love of God. In the love of God we can see into a place called heaven. When we see into heaven, we can see Jesus waiting for us or we can see Jesus coming to earth as He did so long ago. When we see Jesus, we are filled with an eternal hope. So no matter how much we must wait, our waiting can be borne up by us. In Christ, we have the ability to be patient for we know we shall see Him face to face in the future. When we think and ponder, even in our pain, we know He gave His life for our life. We know He wants us to be pure and holy, without spot or blemish. We know He has called us to be His very own whether we are in pain or out of pain.

Romans 8:32 He Who Did Not Spare His Own Son, But Gave Him Up For Us All--How Will He Not Also, Along With Him, Graciously Give Us All Things?

"All things" are possible with God. "All things" is a lot to be given. Of course, most of us in pain know on a level not known by those who do not suffer how we will likely not be given "all things" on earth. However, in heaven, where the miraculous is a normal occurrence, we will indeed have "all things." We can try to imagine another life or lifetime or existence where "all things" belong to us. However, can we truly imagine "all things" even being possible? In truth, we cannot fully imagine "all things" because our finite mind cannot hold the knowledge, wisdom, power, and experience of "all things." "All things" to you would not be "all things" to someone else. Each person has a different idea as to what "all things" means. Yet, our God is faithful, loving, and wise. In His power, He can and will give each of us the kind of "all things" each of us will understand. We will be filled with a glory divine when we ascend to His other shore where pain and suffering do not exist. "All things" is of the infinite. "All things" is wrapped in the love of God carrying us forever to the reaches of heaven only to find we shall be coming around again for helping after helping of His mighty grace, love, and power.

John 1:16 From The Fullness Of His Grace We Have All Received One Blessing After Another.

In pain, we too often think we are not blessed, even cursed. Even in pain, we can count our blessings if we try. We must not live in a poverty of soul. Our soul is blessed by the power and love of Christ. When we begin to survey the wonders of God along with the wondrous blessings He has poured over us, our pain insulation becomes sustainable. We may never be normal because of our pain. We may never be able to do what normal people do. However, we can count our blessings, which in turn blesses our soul and the soul of all those with whom we have contact. In counting our blessings, we will come to see how our blessings come from God.

Ephes. 1:3 Praise Be To The God And Father Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who Has Blessed Us In The Heavenly Realms With Every Spiritual Blessing In Christ.

In pain, we must hold on to what we know about God, even when we cannot experience what we know is real from Him. We must remain strong while we are in pain. We must not weaken or falter. We must continually look up, even in the blindness of our pain, for as long as we look up, God will surely bless us and keep us for that day when we shall rejoice with Him in glory. We must rejoice and give thanks, for even in our pain, our Lord is working for us each moment. Just from the fact we have spiritual blessings in our pain should give us great joy and the hope of living in greater joy in the life to come. Praise be to God for we can believe and know of His love for us. Praise be to God even in our pain we are still victors in Christ's name.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise Be To The God And Father Of Our Lord Jesus Christ! In His Great Mercy He Has Given Us New Birth Into A Living Hope Through The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ From The Dead,

We may be alive in our body. However, what about our soul? Our soul may be alive within us, but what is the direction of our soul? Is our soul pointed up toward our infinite God and Christ Jesus? Or is our soul pointed down toward Satan and eternal darkness? If we are not Christ's child, if we are condemned to eternal darkness because we have not accepted Him, we have no real hope in our life or in our soul. Our pain is increased even more when we are lost in the darkness. Our pain is lessened when we contemplate soaring above the clouds into a land of glory and grace where we shall never suffer again. In this life full of so much pain and trials unending, we can be reborn in our heart and soul. While we are waiting for Christ to call us home to a painless and joy-filled eternity, we live in infinite hope, waiting with certainty beyond certainty for the day when we shall see Christ face to face.

Acts 3:26 When God Raised Up His Servant, He Sent Him First To You To Bless You By Turning Each Of You From Your Wicked Ways."

In pain, we can use our pain as the big excuse. We can use our pain to get ourselves out of doing things we can do. We can use our pain to get us out of being the person we can be. What we must strive to do in our pain, is live in complete honesty about ourselves. We must look at our mistakes, failures, and sin. We must look at our potentialities and possibilities. When we can be excruciatingly honest about ourselves, we can then begin to look at how Christ wants us to be His child. In our normal state of being, we are fallen creatures. We have fallen short of the glory of God. If we change and turn to Christ with a repentant heart, Christ will pour His living spirit over us. If we repent or change, our life will be blessed.

1 Peter 1:15 But Just As He Who Called You Is Holy, So Be Holy In All You Do; 16 For It Is Written: "Be Holy, Because I Am Holy."

The great quest of every life is the quest to be holy, godly, and devout before God. Terribly, looking at human behavior in the world, it seems few people accept or even recognize God's calling upon their heart to be holy, godly, and devout. God calls us and expects us to be holy, whether we are in pain or not. Our pain tries to drive us away from God and His holiness. We are to wage war against the unholy darkness in our life. Our pain is an unholy darkness. When we let the unholy darkness of our pain win out and drive us into sinfulness, the voice of Christ within us is smothered out. Our quest for holiness is the quest to keep the voice of Christ alive in our heart and soul. We keep the voice of Christ alive in us when we resist temptation. We keep the voice of Christ alive within us by kneeling at the foot of Christ's cross in holy contrition.

John 11:35 Jesus Wept.

This verse is the shortest verse in the Holy Bible. Although the verse is the shortest verse, the verse is among the most powerful. We know from this verse we have a friend in Jesus, a friend who cries. We have a friend, who, when we weep, He weeps. We have a friend in Jesus who loves us. We have a friend in Jesus who was once a human being. Jesus understands us better than we understand ourselves.

Our god in the form of Jesus is not some kind of cloud in some distant galaxy. Our god in the form of Jesus is a personal god. We have a god in Jesus who knows our pain. We have a god in Jesus who knows all about what we go through minute by minute. We are never alone, even if we think we are alone. Jesus, our best friend in the whole world is with us every moment. Jesus shares our joys, our heartaches, our frustrations, our trials, and our temptations. Jesus knows.

Jeremiah 50:34 Yet Their Redeemer Is Strong; The Lord Almighty Is His Name. He Will Vigorously Defend Their Cause So That He May Bring Rest To Their Land, But Unrest To Those Who Live In Babylon.

Those of us in pain want a new life. We do not want to live in pain any longer. Our pain is a terrible burden. We must keep in mind God will redeem us. God will give us a new life. God will, at some point in our life, give us eternal protection in the land of glory through Christ Jesus. In this time, in this place where we suffer, we do not suffer alone, for Christ is with us every moment. Even now, Christ is preparing a place for us. Christ is preparing a place for us where our mortal enemy cannot come. In Christ, we can have joyous rest, peace, and love without bounds or limits. God is the strongest power in all creation. God is our friend, not our enemy. Christ Jesus is our comforter.