God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. — C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
One of the greatest symptoms of sin is that it fools us into thinking that there is nothing wrong with us. If you think about that for a moment you’ll realize how sneaky this is (and the great Dragon is indeed sneaky). If we’re kept in the dark and confused about the fact that there may be something wrong, that disease will continue to work on us to numb us to the reality that we’re dying. Sin makes us numb. This is the reality that C.S. Lewis points out in the quote above.
Lewis opens our eyes to the fact that pain is, in fact, a good thing. Pain tells us that there is something wrong. We’re come to a dangerous place when we no longer feel pain. Faith in Jesus that leads to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit arouses in us our senses. It also makes us sensible. The Holy Spirit enables us to be able to identify our symptoms, our problems, our sin. This is what Jesus meant when he said that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit isn’t out to shame us, or embarrass us. No, the Holy Spirit’s job is to bring us to our senses, is to help of feel pain so that we can make an adjustment. In pain, as Lewis points out, God speaks to us. This is precisely why Jesus is the wounded healer. Jesus, to heal us, enters into our pain on the Cross. Without the pain of the cross healing will never come. This is also why we must “take up our cross and follow him” (Matthew 16:24). To come to healing we must come to our senses to pass through pain. Are you hearing God in your pain? He’s trying to speak to you.
