Refusing Relief

From More Precious Than Silver by J.E. Tada

Why give myrrh to a child? It's a sticky, gum resin from a shrubby tree and is used as a painkiller or an embalming fluid....Jesus refused myrrh when it was offered Him on the cross to deaden the pain (Mk 15:23), and then, after Jesus' body ws taken down from the cross, 75 pounds of myrrh and aloe [were used in the burial process].


The Savior of us all was not allowed pain relief. I cannot imagine, if offered pain relief when I am at my peak of pain, saying no to it....considering how much worse RA pain is than any migraine I have ever had. How much love He has/had for us to go through such suffering without using any sort of means of medication. And no, I don't think this means we are not allowed to use medications. Timothy was to use wine for his stomach and other illnesses. I think that our Savior had to face the full abomination of our sins, from the very first sin ever completed to the very last sin at the end of time. The amount of agony, I imagine, was likely so high that myrrh would have done nothing for it anyway. Pain, medically speaking, comes in different intensities. 


It's easy to witness when it's easy....then there are "out of season" days. Your shoulders sag, your heart feels dry, and you wonder if God has abandoned you for some more happy-spirited Christian...You're just not up to encouraging others in Christ. But God is. He wants you to encourage and instruct in season and out of season, whether you're up to it or not. 


I have not done a lot of witnessing in the telling of the story--there have been a few times I felt pulled by God to speak. I use my actions a lot, because honestly, in this society...no one hears me. I am neither cool enough nor suave enough to catch most people's attention. But my action can be seen a lot louder than what I am able to say. I feel otherwise that my compassion towards people is my way of showing the shadow of God's love. 
Really the portion of this passage that grabbed me more than anything was the feeling God has abandoned us for some happy spirited Christian....because I have felt that before. We all have, I think. We have reached the end of our rope by housework, homework, work or whatever...and when we cry out to God, there is no answer. We sag a little further, realizing that was are so sad and pathetic that even God can't stand us.  
Now that is an out and out lie. God can stand us. He loves us....look back at the top passage. He hung on that cross and REFUSED pain medication. I think, having other passages written way in front of this one in my Journey Book...when we don't hear Him exactly, He is inviting us to be quiet too. How often, generally, does the average American sit down and let the world be silent? Like once a year. 
Not that I have done this, except now I do it a lot...but I used to not. I suggest that next time you feel that sagging feeling that you are so unloved that even God can't stand you, if you at all can...go sit somewhere with God. Preferably outside. But wherever strikes you as the most peaceful place. Make your mind go on silent mode (I have to think about "Be still and know I am God" for that part to work)...and just think about God...and what He has done for you before.  I bet you feel a really sulky feeling...that's when I ask God to bind all evil spirits from me. 
Sometime in there, more often than not...you find God really was there all the time. He just was waiting for you to sit and have coffee with Him and enjoy the gift that silence really is. 
There are times it lasts longer. I don't know why. But keep looking for Him. Because He is there. There just may be something that you know you need to do and haven't...or to build up perseverance. Because if there is one thing I have learned....God loves us so much that there is literally no describing it...and none of us who have ever joined His family through accepting His Son will ever be cast out. 

Here's the first half of the first chapter of John. Pretty clear He loves us. 

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life,^[a] and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own,^[b] and his own people^[c] did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.