How to overcome pain and difficulties, By Sunday Adelaja

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumour. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept”

I think Steve Jobs’ eloquent narration clearly shows us that pain could make people. When we have the right attitude to pain, it could be turned to our advantage. Pain could become a blessing. Pain could be our stepping stone to a greater future. Pain however has the capacity to make you but it also has the capacity to mar you, break you and destroy you. I’m sure we are all aware of that on personal levels.

“You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events.” ― Joel Osteen

Can Pain Be Overcome?

Yes indeed, no doubt about it. Yes, pain could indeed be overcome and subdued. The difference is our attitude. Attitude can reduce the destruction of pain upon us. With the right attitudes, the effects of pain could be greatly subdued.

Jesus Christ taught us this lesson in a beautiful way.

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb12:2

Through this passage, Jesus reveals to us the secret of how he subdued the power of pain. Let us look at the strategies Jesus used to overcome the power of pain over himself in this scripture.

1. Jesus Endured the Cross

The cross in this case is the source of pain to Christ. Jesus response was not to be afraid of it, not to panic before it, but to endure it. This shows us the very first attitude we should have towards pain – Endurance.

When you know that it is possible to endure, then psychologically you have an edge. When you are assured that you can endure the pain then that gives you a can-do attitude. The first thing you should do whenever you encounter pain is to be determined to endure and endure through indeed.

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” ― William Barclay

2. Focus on the End Result

The next strategy Jesus applied to defeat pain was to focus on the end result. There is always an end result at the end of everything, even pain. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what the end result of your situation might be, even if it is as bad as death, yet, you could focus on the reward that death will give you at the end of the day. In Jesus’ case, his pain resulted in death. But at the bottom end of death, Jesus saw a reward – Joy.

That joy became his focus. We too should find a positive consequence of our pain and fix our gaze on it. Thinking less about the pain of the present.

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?”― Lance Armstrong

3. He Despised the Shame

Jesus neglected the pressure of shame. He did not allow himself to come under it. Some of the greatest pain in the world come from shame. One of the greatest ways to overcome it is to neglect it. Jesus knew this secret. He did not simply neglect it, he actually despised it. If you could ignore or despise pain, their effects on you will be grossly limited.

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”― Brené Brown

4. Look Unto Jesus

That scripture in Heb. 12.2 starts with a quote “looking unto Jesus” in our own position today, we have a better advantage. While encountering pain, we could just fix our eyes on our Lord and Savior Himself. He then becomes our relief, comfort and our healing.

“Our dependence on God ought to be so entire and absolute that we should never think it’s necessary, in any kind of distress to have recourse to human consolation.” ―  Thomas a Kempis

5. Know He is the Author and Finisher of Our Faith

When you know everything has a beginning and an end, it is easier to cope with your situation of pain. Knowing God as your Alpha and Omega, your beginning and the end, would help you to know that your situation will not last forever. It would end one day. That thought on its own, is comforting enough to reduce the damaging effect on you.

“The thing is to rely on God. The time will come when you will regard all this misery as a small price to pay for having been brought to that dependence. Meanwhile, the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing has yet been done.” ―C. S. Lewis

6. SEE YOURSELF AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER

The Bible says that we are seated with Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father in heavenly places. Seeing yourself this way will greatly help you to overcome the power of pain.

So can pain be overcome? Apparently yes! Jesus did it, the disciples did it and Paul did it. So we too can by our faith subdue the power of pain.

The main lesson we can learn from the scripture above is that focus is about the most important thing in overcoming pain. Jesus refused to focus on the pain of the nails. He refused to focus on the shame of nakedness. He refused to also focus on the consequences of his death especially to his immediate family. He didn’t focus his thoughts on how his mother, his siblings and others will cope without him.

“Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.” ―  Ralph Marston

Usually when we are in pain, all kinds of negative thoughts come to our minds. Those thoughts usually overwhelm us from all directions. They are normally too strong to easily overcome. However above, Jesus taught us the secret of overcoming this major challenge. Stop thinking about it. Begin to think about something else. We overcome these thoughts from shifting our focus from the present reality to the end result that awaits us at the end of the day.

We should focus more on the faithfulness of God. We should think more on his justice and the joy he has waiting for us at the end of the day.

“Focus on giants – you stumble. Focus on God – Giants tumble.” ― Max Lucado

Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He was based in Ukraine.