Isaiah 53:1-6 – “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.  5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging, we are healed.  6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” NASB

Revelation 21:3-4 – “”Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  NASB

In 2010 the Lord enabled me to have a book published titled, “Prison of Pain”.  In that book, the focus is on the often-self-imposed prison that pain can place us and offers the solutions for much of the imprisonment that people experience.  Since I am not a medical practitioner and totally unqualified to make a medical diagnosis I say much because there may be some cases that only God and your medical doctor can resolve.  The solutions that I suggest are cures afforded by the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit with your cooperation and participation.  It goes far beyond the symptom to the root of the problem and I believe that true medicine does that as well.

But before I discuss any of this, I want to call attention to the basis upon which I write in more specifics.  When I turn to the above passage in Isaiah, I immediately realize that our LORD truly does understand what we are going through and has experienced PAIN the kind that imprisons.  I have categorized pain into three listings for our discussion purposes:

• Ache

The word is a noun with the associated words:  hurt, soreness, sting, tenderness, hurting, and twinge, throbbing, or smarting.  None of those remotely express the depth or degree of pain that is referenced in the Title – “Prison of Pain.”

• Nuisance

A noun with the associated words:  bother, drag, bind, pest, or menace.  Again, all minor irritants are associated with daily life.  Clearly, these are not what we are referring to in our Title and Topic and will not bring one to the point of desperation in life.

• Grief

A noun with the associated words; sorrow, anguish, torture, or agony.  This is more readily identifiable with that on which we are focusing.  In Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second Edition by Prentiss Hall Press GRIEF is defined as: ‘intense emotional suffering caused by loss, disaster, misfortune, etc.:  acute sorry; deep sadness 2. A cause of the subject of suffering; 3. 20 hardship, suffering, or pain b) a cause of any of these: SYN. See SORROW – come to grief to fail or be ruined.”

The same dictionary defines grievous as: “1. causing grief 2. Showing or characterized by grief (a grievous cry) 3. Causing suffering; hard to bear; severe [grievous pain] 4. Deplorable; heinous [a grievous crime].”  Therefore, by definition, this PAIN that we are speaking of is grievous, hard to bear, severe, and can be described as deplorable and even heinous!  That is the PAIN that we are talking about!  A PAIN that imprisons and steals life from you and it does not have to be and often is not PHYSICAL PAIN!

As we begin our New Year, I am convinced in my spirit that many who read what I am writing have either been in or are facing this type of PAIN and the Imprisonment that comes with it.  I hope in a few short devotionals to give you Hope and point you to the True Help and Helper!

May God be with you as you go through your day!