Pain can be good sometimes. This is because the presence of pain is a reminder to us that something is not right. For example, when one come into contact with hot boiling water, that instant pain of burning sensation to the skin causes one to react by moving away. That is an excellent reminder by our bodies that something is not right and we should escape by addressing the source of that pain.
Back in 2008, I was suffering from periodontal (gum) disease. Periodontitis which simply means inflammation around the tooth was causing my gums to bleed really easily whenever I brush my teeth. One comment I remembered from the dentist who was treating me at that time stays with me. She told me that if there was even a slight pain in my gums, I would be seeking treatment much earlier before I developed full-blown periodontitis in the first place. How true. There wasn’t even any pain when I was developing periodontitis.
Therefore, I think pain can be a great reminder in our lives. Similarly to my gum disease, although all of us are spiritually dead but yet, we do not feel any “pain” at all. This brings to my mind that at the onset, we see the cross of Christ as foolishness and we reject Him all the time (1 Cor 1:18). I remember that before I became a Christian, I shun away every single time when someone tries to tell me about Jesus. It definitely isn’t a coincidence that Jesus had to tell Nicodemus that in order for one to enter the Kingdom of God, one has to be born again (John 3:3).
Only Jesus Christ is able to help any one of us who is spiritually dead to be born again. That is why He said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the Only Way to God. He is the Only True God. In essence, although we as Christians use our lives as witnesses for Him, but He is the Only One who is doing the Saving Work of souls. One needs to have his or her spirit regenerated again by Jesus Christ alone to be able to understand His Cross (1 Cor 1:18).
Maybe we do not feel any pain in our spirits because our spirits are already dead. The mystery of the gospel is Jesus Christ is the Savior and only He alone can save those whose spirits are dead in the first place. Christians are in existence today because their spirits are made alive by Jesus Christ at one point or another. They are being born again and see the power of God in the Cross.
I think in the deepest corner of our human hearts, there is that longing to be reunited with Jesus Christ. It is evident when we can identify with people who lost their loved ones like the recent Aurora, Colorado shooting tragedy even though we may not be related to them at all. Why? Because in our human hearts, all of us can identify that this tragedy is so wrong in our consciences. This human conscience is placed in our hearts by Jesus Christ Himself and through it one day, we would want to know the Only True God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3).
I do not pray for pain in the spiritually dead among the Christians. What I do pray is that the spiritually dead would exercise their human consciences one day to search for the Only True God. I have complete confidence that if they really do that, they would find Jesus Christ (Rev 3:20).
