Outward Pain

Recently, I was reminded of a chronic condition I have of a low knee cartlidge.  You see, my knee had felt a little sore.  I ignored it.  I kept pushing and then suddenly, wham.  I felt a gush and was unable to put pressure on my knee for 24 hours.  The rebuilding process will take weeks and therapy.

As I walk to various events hobbling around, I get looks of sympathy.  People hold the door open.  Others have a look of sadness in their eyes.  

I started thinking about my pain.  Some pain, like mine, is an outward pain.  You see it.   You know it is there.  You can tell that the person is in pain.  

Yet, many of us carry an inward pain.  That pain that no one can see but it is there.  Perhaps it is a fight you are in, a struggle of money, a worry that you are carrying.  

What I find is that pain is pain.  The great news is that God is there with us with it all.  When I faced a three hour drive with severe pain, I started out by crying.  I wondered, "How am I going to do this?"  The crying became a cry out as I asked God to just help me get to a place I could manage.  I moved my foot some, twisted it and within minutes, the pain eased enough that I could make the journey. 

Here's the thing - we don't know what pain people are carrying.  Nor, do we know when we'll be in pain.  The one constant is that we can pray.  We can ask for healing for those who are sick.  We can ask that God make one adjustment in someone's life that will make it manageable.

And, we can "see" the pain.  Perhaps a friend is more sensitive than usual or someone bursts out at you for something.  They may be carrying inward pain.   They may not be sharing the pain they are carrying.  Still, shouldn't we look on them with the same sympathy as those who have outward pain?