The Value of Pain, by Rubel Shelly
And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy
with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more
patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this
proof gives us hope. And this hope will never disappoint us -- it
will never fail. Why? Because God has poured out his love to fill
our hearts. God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit. That Holy
Spirit was a gift to us from God. (Romans 5:3-5 ERV)Tony Dungy is the head coach of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. Many were
expecting his team to be competing in Super Bowl XL, but it wasn't to
be. He did, however, speak at the Athletes in Action breakfast on
Saturday before the game.
After receiving a lengthy standing ovation and paying tribute to Curtis
Martin for winning the Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award, Dungy told
the hundreds of attendees that he wanted to talk about lessons he had
learned from his three sons. Reporters say the room fell silent except
for the coach's voice.
He spoke first of his middle son, Eric, and his competitive nature that
is so focused on athletics that "it's almost a problem." Then he turned
to his youngest son, Jordan, whose rare congenital condition makes him
insensitive to pain. "That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but
I promise you it's not," said Coach Dungy. "We've learned some hurts
are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out
the difference between what's good and what's harmful." He explained in
terms of Jordan's love for his mother's cookies. "Cookies are good,"
the coach continued, "but -- in Jordan's mind -- if they're good out on
the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the
oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the
pan out, burn his hands – then eat the cookies and burn his tongue and
never feel it."
With no fear borne of pain, Jordan must be watched constantly. And the
lesson from that, Dungy said, is pretty simple. "You get the question
all the time, ‘Why does the Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad
things happen to good people? If there is a God of love, why does he
allow these hurtful things to happen?' We've learned that a lot of
times because of that pain, that little temporary pain, you learn
what's harmful. You learn to fear the right things. "Pain sometimes
lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed. Pain inside
sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right, and we
need to be healed. And that God will send that healing agent right to
the spot. Sometimes pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back
to the Father."
Only then did Coach Dungy speak of his oldest son, James, who took his
life three days before Christmas. Of his family's pain. Of lessons they
learned.
Coach Dungy reminds us all that the only way to overcome heartache and
death, discouragement and anguish is to let them turn us back to the
Father. When that happens, we have discovered the ultimate value our
pain can have.
(c) 2006 From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life"
http://www.faithmatters.com/
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