Learning to Cope With Pain by Robert Soto (Received in email from Wordsfromcreator)

Learning to Cope With Pain
By Robert Soto
Received in email from Wordsfromcreator

November 16, 2009

I Corinthians 12:9-10 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt that my grandson was in pain and I could not do anything about it except pray and hold him. It was a toothache and if you have ever had a toothache you know that they are not the best thing to have. But in my dream, all I could do was hold him and keep praying for him. I was totally hopeless with the situation. I woke up thinking of all the times he will have to suffer pain as he grows up. Then I started to think of all the times I have suffered pain. The list kept growing and growing because I discovered that pain comes in all different forms. Pain can be spiritual. Pain can be physical. Pain can be emotional. I'm sure the list can go on and on. For example the pain of losing a loved one is not physical, nor is the pain of a failed relationship. So pain comes in all different forms and at different levels.

But how do you handle the pains of life? How do you handle the pain of disappointment or the pain of discouragement? Paul gave us some idea of how to handle the pains of life. After he pleaded three times for God the Creator to take away the pain, God the Creator said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God the Creator told Paul that he had sufficient power to get over the hardships of life. To conquer the pain when pain becomes unbearable. His grace - undeserved mercy - will give us the power to endure whatever comes our way. That is why Paul then said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." He gives us the power to endure during a time of weakness because it is when we are at our weakest that He gives us the power to endure and survive.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church