pain in the side

Angie, thats funny about madi. We hope to.

Well on with the blog. I am sitting here relatively comfortably. The pain has subsided abit, probly with the help of the vicodin I swigged down earlier. Is it any wonder we have pain? We shouldn't. I am thinking through Job and know that because I live in a similar world (where people are judged by how much they have, not so much by who they are) if he had pain why shouldn't I. Pain is where who we are is often revealed in truth. That adage, 'no pain, no gain' is in a very real sense a truism. Although, usually not a good way to deal with pain. Pain tells us there is something wrong in our bodies so you better get it checked out. Nevertheless, pain, while not sought after, should be accepted as part of God's game plan to rescue us from ourselves. Pain forces me to look outside myself. I thanked God for my pain during my prayer time this morning. And I was in alot of it. The take my breath away kind. I don't say that to swell me up a notch, as super godly. But rather, to highlight the fact that God is in control of my pain. Oh, give me the meds when it is too much, sure. But God has a purpose in it even if it is to show me how frail I am in body, and yet to strengthen me in spirit. I don't want the pain in my ribs to control me. Nor do I want to just 'tough it out.' I want to be able to rise above it, ie. to be able to praise God despite it. I want the pain to do God's intended work in me or you whichever it is for. When a youth wants to build muscle he or she may start exercising muscles that inevitably become sore from the ripping of the muscle cells from each other. But they grow back larger and stronger. Muscle building is nothing more than repeatedly tearing your muscles down and letting them build back up stronger. That creates pain. Thus, the adage, 'no pain no gain.' Now I am not looking for pain. I do want it to go away. But we need to realize that sometimes pain comes so that we will dig deeper in our bodies physically and discover the root cause of it in order to treat the root cause and find healing which then rids us of the pain. So again, 'no pain, no gain.' Ask a leper about that sometime.
In my case the pain is keeping me praying, rejoicing, thinking about God and what He is doing. Knowing that God loves me and that my pain has His fingerprints all over it. So it has reason and purpose, if nothing more than for me to be more compassionate to others who probably are in pain themselves.
Jake has some pain. I am not sure where. I think it is in his right hind hock/ankle. So I have been going easy on him, treating him with horse liniment (as a matter of fact, I have been thinking of applying some to my backribs) and ibuprofen. My own pain makes me feel like not doing alot. Jake might not either. So when I work with a horse, I need to take this into consideration too. It may that the swishing tail, the shaking of the withers might indicate he hurts and would prefer to be left alone. But since he is not Mr. Ed he can't tell me verbally about his pain or where he hurts. I just have to be able to read the signs. Sometimes people are like that too. They might not tell you they are hurting, but pay attention to the signs they show you. Some people, cry (that is a sure sign), get quiet when talking about certain subjects, they may be crotchety or crabby, short tempered, etc.
I also know that where I hurt is usually tender so that if I or someone else pushes on it I move away from it. When I put a leg on the side of a horse they move away from the pressure. At least that is what I want. If I put my leg forward of the girth on the right side I want his shoulder to move left. Or if I put my heel on his right flank behind the girth I want him to move his hip to the left. I create a point of pain, ever so slight, to get him to move in the direction of the pressure.
Now think about this, much of the time people who have pain in their lives through abuse, or violence, or something like that, turn away from God. But what if God is on our left side and reaching around with His hand to our right side and pushing with His all powerful index finger into our ribs to push us to the left, right under His arm, wanting us to move closer to Him? I read about a bird, don't ask me where or what kind, cause I don't remember, who was almost petrified in a forest fire. She was dead, but when the fire fighters found her they moved her wings and low and behold there were her chicks underneath her alive and well. What if one of the chicks would have rejected her warnings and refused the restrictions of living under her wings for that time. That chick would have died. But the one's that lived stayed under her restricting wings. Now need I say more about how God may be using pain in your life? Seek shelter under His wings and there you will safely abide.
No pain no gain? yeah, that's good enough for me.
See Job or Romans 8:28, 29; James 1 and certainly search the Psalms for more on this.
God bless