Enduring Pain

Yesterday I reflected on my aches and pains. Today on this Holy Friday, I feel I have no right to complain. The pain I have experienced, even at it's worst, has been nothing to what Jesus went through in a crucifixion death.

Agonizing nerve pain is what my mom endures daily from neuropathy in her feet. If anyone has earned a right to complain, it's her. Even with the dulling relief of morphine, it's a constant layer that burns through each day and night. At the same time, I see an inner beauty and sweetness that defies her circumstances and disease. If you were to ask her about it, she would tell you that it's simply because Jesus is with her. He gives her strength as she focuses on his gifts to her. She looks for others to encourage, especially those enduring pain.

Who was with Jesus through his agony? Deserted by his closest friends, he was alone in the jeering crowds to carry a heavy cross. Even with nails piercing his hands and feet, he refused anything to dull the pain. He simply pushed through and endured the pain. Ultimately, even his own Father had to turn his back, all because Jesus became filled with sin.

Jesus would have never before have felt the inner pain of rejection, shame and guilt. He even knew what was coming ahead in time, yet he didn't access God's power to get off the cross. If he could endure all this for love, I can endure whatever hardships life brings. Because he endured pain for me, I can experience compassion and empathy for others that only comes from experiencing pain myself.

What amazes me today is how Jesus could still think of others in the middle of excruciating pain. He used his time to talk to the thief beside him, speaking words of hope to a forced companion. He made sure his mom would be cared for after his death.  He didn't lose track of his purpose.  

I go inward in the face of pain and isolate myself from others. My mom prays for others, reading and listening for God's words of encouragement to her. She can't change her situation, since there are no cures. But she chooses to focus on the prize set before her and endures. For that, I give praise to the One who endured all for me and who did it for love.