Getting the Message
My back was out for the second time in a year. My left hip protruded when I stood, leaving my body like one of those timber tower games—pieces jutting out in every direction. I was in pain.
Lying down hurt. Lifting hurt. Walking hurt. Sitting in my work chair hurt. The only position I felt comfortable with was reclining in the easy chair. Over the days, though, I noticed that the longer I sat in the comfy chair, the more fixed my back’s out-of-shape position got. Another couple of days and my tight back would be locked in the wrong position for the long haul.
I needed to get up and move, painful as it would be.
As I hobbled around the block, I prayed and asked God for relief. A phrase immediately came to my mind: Pain is a messenger.
Startled, I acknowledged that truth. What message was my back sending? Even more pointed, what message was my daily life sending?
Day by day, I considered the message as I walked a bit more, a bit faster, and a bit longer. I began to understand that the source of my back pain wasn’t simply my posture but the choices I made every day about how I spent my hours. Stress from overwork caused my muscles to tighten. Lack of exercise locked them into the wrong position. While I was tempted to write this off as the cost of modern living, if I didn’t change what I was doing—and not doing—I would receive the same painful message on repeat. I wanted different and better.
As I contemplated this, I thought about a friend who felt sad after every social media encounter. Pain is a messenger. Another friend was dating a man who made her feel less than. Pain is a messenger. A relative worked long hours with constant reassurance that it would let up, but it never did. Pain is a messenger. A friend ran afoul of a church clique and told me there’s no hurt like church hurt. Pain is a messenger.
Paying attention to our bodies’ signals is a way of caring for ourselves. Many of us have been trained to ignore our pain warnings, but God sends those messages in love, and in loving ourselves, we should heed them. Of course, there is pain beyond our ability to repair. But often, when we hurt, the easiest thing to do is remain in a comfortable chair that locks us into discomfort. To be free, we can’t ignore the message. Instead, we must heed the Messenger and do the hard work, step-by-step, of walking it out and perhaps walking away to relieve the pain.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
HEBREWS 12:11
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“Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the person who trusts in him!” Psalm 34:8