When I had some emergency surgery recently, I was told to go home and fill my pain medication prescription, keep the Tylenol and Aleve handy, and most of all to “try and stay ahead of the pain.”

I wasn’t quite sure what the doctor meant by that, but I was grateful to see they had prescribed only about ten pills (I only took two the whole time, and cut even those in half) instead of the full bottle they used to charge you for. Mine mostly went down the toilet, so I usually vacillated between filling a prescription and just keeping it handy in case and until I was actually IN pain.

There was much to be said for this theory, however. Once you experience the pain, every nerve in your body seems to record it, so that it can play it back at the mere hint of it returning.  If, however, one stays ahead of the pain, taking the medication just prior to the previous dose wearing totally off, one never actually experiences the pain.

So this got me thinking. What if, when we saw pain approaching, and by this now I am referring to primarily emotional pain and heartache, we actually embraced it and went with it, instead of stoically trying to push it back? Like my young surfer previously, wouldn’t we be able to ride it out better if we tried to skirt out just ahead of it instead of being caught in the crash and foam and being thrown every which way?

I think there is a lesson in all that. If we truly trust God to bring us through every circumstance, no matter how potentially hazardous it may appear, isn’t He going to know how to ride the wave and stay ahead of the pain?

He is, and He will also probably be delighted we trusted Him enough to take that ride together!