Month: December 2015

Pain’s Real Antidote

 

By: Candice Williams

Pain, pain that erupts from deep within and then radiates throughout the body is reminiscent of a stifling summer heat that rises on the hottest of days. Recently, after much reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that life can never be satisfied with “enough” pain. Calamity strikes us again and again, with no guarantees of peace. There is no rule; no quota that once reached pain relents.

It’s a vicious beast foaming at the mouth thirsting for more and when sleep overtakes its victim, it impatiently paces back and forth until the victim is awakened to resume its torture once more. You may wonder, why so descriptive? Well, it’s because I’ve encountered this beast before, and so have you I’m sure. The pain of losing a loved one, a brother/friend gone off track, the unrequited love of a mother, the brokenness of a marriage, a sudden terrorist attack all illicit the same response.

As long as we’re down here there are no guarantees, life will continue to be a mystery that evades us. We make our plans knowing that at any time things can be interrupted, and when it does, we try to pick up the broken pieces and move on. So what do we do? How do we fight? We don’t fight! We simply surrender to pain. Any other strategy will fail. Submit to it! Yes! Be awakened by her, be terrified by the storm brewing within, and let pain travel through you with hurried vengeance until it gives birth to that horrific sound. Cry! Weep! Mourn! Acknowledge pain, and yes, let her win. Pain must carry out her dreadful work.

Joy, the antonym of pain is synonymous of a cup running over, “More! More!” we cry, because our souls are never satisfied with its fruits. It is intoxicatingly addictive and feels like butterflies. It’s the twinkle in the eyes before saying “I do,” graduation day after enduring many sleepless nights, it’s the birth of a healthy baby, it’s a vacation long planned. Could “joy” be pain’s remedy? “No, it is not!” They do not complement each other, they do not walk hand in hand, and they each occupy different ends of the spectrum and allowed to be applied by the Master’s hand.

The wisest man ever lived eloquently penned and I’ll paraphrase, “Master, we implore you, don’t give us too much pain to crush out the life within, not too much joy where we revel and forget you……and should we be overcome with the weight of our experience tipping over the balance in the direction of pain, fortify our minds to love You still”.

To love the One who left the company of adoring angels to be the way, the One who pleaded for pain’s dreadful cup to be removed, the One who carried our pain on a hill. You too have been its subject; you too have felt its sting! You knew pain was too much a burden to be borne by man and then simply left to die. You became like one of us to give us hope, yes “Hope” is pain’s antidote! Place in us hope Father, hope for a future and an expected end. In Revelation the 21st chapter You promised us that one day soon You will personally wipe away every tear from our eyes; there will be no more death, mourning, or crying. No More Pain! Oh, I cannot wait for that day, the day in which pain and death are vanquished for eternity and our hearts finally find peace. My prayer is that until that day comes we’ll trust You despite the uncertainties that this life brings, so that You can lead us safely through until we reach eternity’s shore.

My Crochet Escape

In February of 2015 I received a shocking phone call that sent me into a tailspin of negative emotions. The information received  concerned a very close relative of mine, and a physical reaction soon ensued. I could hear the thumping of my heart, I felt the perspiration on my hands, and I was keenly aware of the lump in my throat. Unable to contain the tsunami of emotions that engulfed me I reached for the closest chair. My eyes searched for tears, I wanted to scream, yet no sound escaped. The weeks that followed brought no relief, time did not ease the pain. Evidence of how this situation had consumed me was reflected in my inability to carryout my day-to-day functions. My family needed me, I needed me, but I could not awaken from this stupor.

This huge load wasn’t mine, yet here I was losing my mind over someone else’s problems! Praying was the only thing that brought about some level of solace and it was in one of these meetings, this communion with God that it was revealed that I needed an escape. My coping mechanisms failed me, I was at the end of my rope, and I desperately needed God to to intervene. As Jacob fought, I struggled with God in prayer, a determination got a hold of me and I couldn’t leave His presence until my prayer was heard and answered. All of a sudden, as long awaited rain on the parched ground, it was revealed, “I know!”, I exclaimed before completing the last sentences of my very long prayer, “I need to do crochet! Really God?”, I said out loud.  “It has been way over twenty one years since my Aunt Ruth taught me how to do this,  I am not even sure I could start the first chain”. I questioned God repeatedly, told Him all my oppositions and in the end He left me with enough courage to try. I went to the store, got the materials and became a YouTube crochet “junkie”.  After watching a plethora of videos I was well on my way to completing my very first crochet project: a scarf. It was then that it hit me, there isn’t a more relaxing hobby in the world. Crochet became my immediate escape from all the storms that surrounded me. Once again, God was right!

As my hands went through the motion of yarn-over and pull-through, life lessons were revealed. I could then see how the elements of crochet could be applicable to our lives. There are three main things that we need in order to complete a well-done crochet project: yarn, a crochet hook and our hands.

The yarn is to crochet what time is to life. With each and every passing day, the Lord lengthens our lives by giving us added time. A life without purpose is synonymous to yarn that is being lengthened without being fashioned after a perfect pattern. By just merely existing we fail to effectively impact the lives of those we come in contact with. What are we doing with all the time that has been given to us?

The crochet hook is representative of God’s tools (Bible study & prayer). He has made these tools available to us to shape us into an exact pattern. There is no better tool that may be used to place the yarn into its rightful place than the hook. Attempts to substitute God’s tools can never get the job done. In the same way the Psalmist describes God’s words as a “lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path”. Another writer describes prayer as the breath of the soul. We simply cannot fulfill the purpose for our lives without communing with God or taking time out to know Him by carefully studying His words. These two tools are quite essential to our existence and the fulfillment of our life’s calling.

The hands represent the motives. Prayer and bible study are indeed important in shaping our lives, yet if we are seeking God for “our” glory and not “His” we can become bitter and resentful when “our” benefit is not obtained. The right tools in the wrong hands can prove disastrous. How could prayer and Bible study ever become weapons? In the sixth chapter of Matthew Jesus describes one way in which prayer can be used as a weapon. We also see in the fourth chapter of Matthew where Satan used the scripture as a weapon. In this regard, we could say that the hand represents what drives our lives and spiritual journey. Are we driven by pride and selfishness? Or are we driven by the hand of God? Is He the one who is behind our every thought, word and deed?

 “Set apart some portion of the day for a study of the scriptures and communion with God. By doing this you will obtain spiritual strength to grow in grace and favor with God. He alone can direct our thoughts aright. He alone can give us noble aspirations and fashions our characters after divine similitude. If we draw near to him in earnest prayer, He will fill our hearts with high holy purposes and with deep earnest longing for purity and cleanness of thought” (E.G. White).  Take time out of your busy lives today to assess whatever your escape is. Make sure that it allows you to zone in on these three very important factors, so that your life will be driven by a divine purpose that is far greater than you. By doing this you will find strength. Strength in the fact that God’s hand is still behind your life, as you actively engage the tools that He has extended to you.

My prayer for you my dear reader is that you too will accept God’s motivation, His tools and time as you continue to be shaped after the divine pattern that has been laid out for you.