Sometimes, there’s no easy answer—or an answer at all!—for life’s hardest questions, especially for a Christian.  I doubt no one really wants to know the reason behind “why did you beg God for death at 2a.m this morning?” because talking about suicide makes people uncomfortable and as a Christian, aren’t I supposed to be full of the love of God so much so that emotional and psychological pain have no affect on me? Aren’t I supposed to be the “light and salt of the Earth” regardless of if I can get out of bed or not?

Is There a Difference Between Physical and Psychological Pain?

Yea….no. In no other area of life are we pressured to hide our scars and hurt. Can you imagine going to the emergency room and telling the nurse or doctor trying to treat you, “Oh, it’s just a sprain. It’s not that big of a deal. I took some Advil after I fell, so just ignore the swelling and you can discharge me whenever. All this fuss really isn’t necessary”? I guarantee you wouldn’t be leaving that hospital until they X-rayed you and gave you morphine. Why is non-psychical pain treated differently than physical pain? Pain is pain.

Mental pain can affect physical pain and vice versa. Prime example: In my blog post, “Don’t Drink the Fabuloso”, I share an intimate time in my life in which I was in pain, both mentally and physically. In that place of pain and discomfort though, God found me and held me through it, even when I tried to hide my reality from Him.

In that post, I wrote the following: “We should not feel embarrassed or guilty of our suicidal thoughts when our reality becomes too much for us to handle.” In a world that shames us for being “weak” if we express our honest feelings, while simultaneously praising us for being “strong” for pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps and being a lone wolf who needs no one, this is a good reminder.

“We should not feel embarrassed or guilty of our suicidal thoughts when our reality becomes too much for us to handle.”

There is Hope in Lamenting

I guess the point of this blog post is to convey two things: One, that even followers of Christ are not impervious to pain and suffering, whether that be physical or mental. Christ did not die to give us a comfortable life where trials and tribulations would never touch us. The Christian life is not Disneyworld. Suffering kinda comes with sacrificing everything to follow the resurrected Jew. Two, there are some things in life that, unfortunately, have no answer or resolution. Yes, every thing we go through will eventually be used to shape us more into the image of Christ, but there are certain things we may have to contend with while we wait for the full power of His redemptive plan to take action. We may never know why we struggle with the things we do, especially when there are no easy answers for why, but be encouraged, beloved, you are not alone. Christ stills walks with you hand-in-hand.