Pain Management

I recently had a conversation with a friend who has been struggling with a chronic illness.  He has been working with a “pain management” doctor for several years.  Since our discussion,  I have grown increasingly troubled by the concept of adaptation to pain.   While the ambition of diminishing suffering is honorable,  I equate this method of treatment to a plant with yellowing leaves.  Prune the sickly fronds and for a day or two the plant will appear healthy.  Problem is,  the source of the yellowing does not originate with the leaves.  It originates in the roots.

Researchers internationally concede emotions play a significant role in health problems.  Dr. George Scott,  a leading Kentucky neurologist, shared with me that the vast majority of disorders such as migraines,  visual disturbances, equilibrium issues,  even seizures are commonly stress induced.  Most patients go expecting a pill to excise the problem, but in many cases, his method of treatment is to encourage the patient to relax and change their thinking.   Meditate.  Go for walk.  Get a massage.  Focus on good things.  He contends that physical healing begins in the mind.   Interesting assertion coming from a brain specialist.

On average, we have over 30,000 thoughts a day.  Emotions both good and bad, are meant to be felt and expressed.  They are a moving mass of electromagnetic and chemical reactions.  They do not disappear or die. Think of fans at a ball game or parents at the birth of their first child.   Somewhere and at sometime,  emotions will erupt because by their very design they necessitate exhibition.   When suppressed,  the more fervently they will work to be heard.    To quell them over time can result in a myriad of complications.

In her best selling book Who Switched Off My Brain, Dr. Caroline Leaf suggests that if our thoughts are powerful enough to make us sick,  they are powerful enough to help us regain health as well.   Sickness here meaning any area we are diminished.   Dr. Leaf submits that emotions are not to be suppressed, but redirected.   While many would dispute this perspective,  I am inclined to agree.  My reasoning?   Because God doesn’t play favorites nor does He leave us at the mercy of our circumstances.   In fact,  He assures comfort as we walk through the valley and a celebration in the presence of the thing which sought to derail us – in this life.  Psalm 23   We are to walk through the valley – not set up residence there.  We move through it by redirecting our focus.  From the valley to the Father.  From the pain to the promise.

Dr. Leaf and Dr. Scott’s perspectives while perhaps unintentional, are biblically based.  Proverbs 23 states the fruit of what we imagine will eventually manifest.  Philippians 4 instructs us on how and what to think.  Everything starts with a thought.   The chair, couch or bed you are resting upon began with an idea.

So…am I suggesting that sickness, lack or loss are self induced?    To an extent – yes.   Our lives will follow the direction of our most dominant thoughts.  Does this mean a person with a disease was preoccupied with disease?  Not at all.  Constraints and impediments are the by-product of living in a fallen world.  But, we must also consider  that self hatred,  unworthiness, anger or any other toxic emotion from a past transgression or loss can garner strength as a result of emotional sludge coursing through our system year after year.    And…we don’t know what we don’t know.

Because we are so sensory guided we rarely consider a realm beyond the physical.    We only legitimize what we see, smell, taste, touch or hear.   For all intents and purposes, we are like puppets.  Fear presents – we quake. Anger presents – we react.   Shame screams – we cower.   Sickness show up – we submit.   The bowing, reacting and cowering are the management techniques we have adopted over time.

So… is there a solution or recourse?  ALWAYS!    God in his goodness and grace did not put us here to simply manage our pain.  He put us here and equipped us to overcome and eradicate it.  The key is discovering what we are equipped with.   The tools we have been given are not tangible.   Our weapons are not of this world,  but they are profoundly powerful.    The Apostle Paul referred to them as mighty.   2 Corinthians 10

Where do we start?  How do we find and then begin the art of mastering these tools?

It starts with a fundamental belief that scripture is God ordained and inspired.  John 14 records there is only one way to the Father and it is through the Son.  Acknowledge the shed blood of Jesus.  Imagine it washing over and cleansing you of emotions you have previously only managed.   Secondly,  believe that God has not left you at the mercy of your circumstances,  but that you have been given a guide and illuminator in the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you.  I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.  (Don’t settle for managing.)   John 14

Ask the Great Physician.  Managing pain is not His treatment methodology.   Instead,  He pulls the root.  And in its place – plants righteousness, peace and joy.