Four Steps to Pushing Through Personal Pain

Introduction:

We all have painful issues in our lives that we face. It might be a broken relationship, a physical challenge, a financial hardship, or the consequences of a bad decision by ourselves or someone close to us. Some people are crushed by such painful issues and never seem to recover. But those who have a great faith in God have four steps they can use to push through personal pain to find victory. We find those steps in the biblical story of Hannah in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel.

I Samuel 1:10-20
10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut." 12 While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips. 13 Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and scolded her, "How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!" 15 "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer; I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD. 16 Don't think of me as a wicked woman; I've been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment." 17 Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him." 18 "May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. 19 The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow and to worship the LORD. Afterwards, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. 20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

Background on this passage:

•               Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was both wealthy and deeply spiritual, a rare combination.

•               Though Elkanah was a spiritual man, he was not perfect. He had a second wife, which was a source of tension between the two ladies.

•               The other wife had children, but Hannah had no children. In that culture, this was considered a negative mark against Hannah and it caused her great personal pain.

•               This passage take place when they made their annual pilgrimage to the tabernacle to worship.

Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

•               Hannah had a strong faith, yet she still had deep hurts.

•               Our faith does not erase our hurts, it gives us strength to endure them.

•               Many people try to deal with their pain in unhealthy ways, such as:

•               1. Drugs, alcohol or other mind-numbing substances

•               2. Hyper-busyness so they do not have time to think about their problems

•               3. Hyper-exercise so they are too exhausted to think about their problems

•               4. Denial

•               5. Sex

•               But none of these methods solve the problem and some of them make the problem worse.

•               Hannah dealt with her hurt through prayer and tears, both of which are healthy.

•               Prayer releases supernatural power to change our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances. Prayer changes things but does not always dry up all our tears.

•               That is okay because there is nothing wrong with having a good cry every now and then.

•               In fact, God designed tears to be part of the healing process.

The Miracle of Tears
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i4/tears.asp

•               Biochemist William Frey spent 15 years studying tears and found that stress-induced tears actually remove toxic substances from the body.

•               Crying reduces the body’s manganese level, a mineral which affects mood and is found in 30 times greater concentration in tears than in blood.

•               Crying also reduces the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which controls pain.

•               Crying actually makes us feel better.

•               But Hannah did more than just pray and cry.

Verse 11 - Making a vow, she pleaded, LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction. . .

•               Hannah was not content to just wallow in her pain. She made a commitment (vow) to the Lord.

•               Hannah thought of some specific commitments she could make to the Lord and what actions she might take to follow through on those commitments.

•               In painful times we should pray, have a good cry, and then consider our commitments to the Lord and to those around us.

•               Is there some specific action we can commit to that will produce positive results?

•               Is there some specific attitude we can commit to change that will produce positive results?

•               Is there some specific spiritual commitment we need to make to bring God’s positive blessing?

•               Part of our struggle when we are going through difficult times is that we either do not commit to actions that will lead us out of  the problem, or we do not make a commitment that lasts long enough for a real solution to happen.

•               We have to make the best commitment that we can that will allow us to take the best action possible in the situation. Then we should stay the course until resolution comes.

Verse 12 - While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips.

•               Eli was watching Hannah, though she probably did not realize it.

•               We may not realize it, but others are watching how we deal with our troubles.

•               Those who are watching us want to know if our faith really helps us or not.

•               If our faith does not help us, why would they want to follow our faith?

Verse 13 - Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               Eli did not understand Hannah’s spiritual connection with God, which was sad since Eli was a priest. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               People will not always understand how faith helps us in times of difficulty.

•               Sometimes even those who share our faith do not understand why we are responding the way we are because God often does unique and special things inside of our own minds and hearts to help us deal with our pain.

Verse 15 - . . . Hannah replied "I am a woman with a broken heart ….. I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.

•               Hannah may not have been understood by others, but she understood herself and tried to explain it to Eli.

•               Hannah prayed hard, had a good cry, made some specific commitments to God and then poured out her heart to God BEFORE trying to explain the situation to others.

•               As a believer, Hannah realized the first person she should share her heart with was the Lord.

•               God is always happy to listen to our frustrations.

•               We need to learn the importance of pouring out our heart to God FIRST.

•               We tend to pour out of troubles to other people first.

•               Though it is good to have family and friends to share our burdens with, our FIRST response should be to go to the Lord and share it with Him.

•               When we share our hearts with the Lord first, it helps us be more clear when we share it with others. They then can offer more focused support to us.

Verse 17 - Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."

•               Though at first Eli did not understand Hannah, he finally realized the depth of her pain and the power of her faith.

•               Eli joined her in prayer and sensed God was going to answer her prayer.

•               We should not write off those who do not understand our pain the first time we share it with them.

•               They will eventually realize our deep need and join us in praying through our situation, which is a powerful tool in our effort to find comfort in times of hurt and pain.

Verse 18 - . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast.

•               Hannah she prayed, she cried, she poured out her heart to God and found a prayer partner and it all really helped!

•               Then she had to go on her way in life. Though her problem was not solved she found peace and strength to keep going.

•               Prayer, tears, making commitments and sharing our burdens with God and others can do the same thing for us.

Verse 20 - After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son.

•               It took time for Hannah’s problem to be solved.

•               It takes time to find real solutions to the problems we face in life.

•               We must be patient as we continue in prayer, and maybe while we shed a few more tears, pouring out our heart to God and praying with a prayer partner until God brings the answer to our problem at the right time.

Conclusion:

•               Our faith does not erase all our hurts, but it does give us strength to endure them.

•               We can push through the pain through prayer, tears, and commitments to God and by sharing our burdens with the Lord and a godly prayer partner.

•               But remember to talk to God about the problem FIRST before finding a godly prayer partner.

•Remember that God’s timing is not always our timing, but it is always the right time so we must remain patient as we wait on God.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/