Pain for a Purpose

By Debra Lynn Neal

What type of pain are you experiencing in your life? Physical? Spiritual? Emotional? Have you ever wondered why? What is the purpose of the pain?

Join the author as she takes you on a journey through her life of physical pain, spiritual pain, and emotional pain where she learned that all pain has a purpose. She was born into a Southern family who had migrated to the North, bringing with them skeletons of pain that they passed on to the next generation. Travel through the years with her and learn how God took the pain of alcohol, drugs, physical abuse, addictions, death, false accusations, and health and revealed the purpose for those life-changing, painful experiences.

Read how God used the pain of her spine, infertility, lumpectomies, and so many other physical pains to refocus her on growing His kingdom. Reflect on your current pain so that you too can one day hear those words "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098071158

Book preview

1

It Is Painful to Be Still

B e still and know that I am the Lord your God, as the Word says. Actually, I am being still. It is the doctor’s orders once again. I should be accustomed to this form of treatment since I have had to partake of this prescription numerous times, but something is different about this time. I know in my heart this is the valley that is going to change my life forever, and I am not so sure I like it!

For whatever reason, God has allowed my back to once again give out, preventing me from doing what I have been called to do—teach. I would be lying to myself and to you if I said that I do not miss the classroom and the students. This is one of those valleys where you know in your head that our God is in control and He is still on His throne, but in your heart you question, Why me? Do I need to pray more? Do I need to read my Bible more? Do I need to witness more? Is this a test or is this a trial? Is there a lesson I need to learn or are there people with whom I will be given the opportunity to share the Gospel in this valley?

In this twenty-first century, we move so fast; we are excellent at multitasking. If I were a betting person, I would bet you are doing something else while reading this book. Am I right? Well, for the record, I am writing, drinking a cup of coffee, and texting our son. We are more alike than you realize! Neither of us are good at being still and listening to God.

I am blessed with five grandchildren. I don’t know about you, but I believe wholeheartedly that out of the mouth of babes come the truth; and even in the last days, these young ones will speak truth. I might have brushed it off or even completely ignored the comment if only one of my grandchildren had said it; but to have three of the five confirm on three different occasions that my pain would not go away until I was in heaven, that is not a chance statement. Our eldest grandson, Damon, who was ten at the time, told me outright that God will heal me when I am in heaven.

For the record, this young man has told us numerous ways God was going to work, and he has always been correct. He was the first person to tell us he was going to have two baby brothers, and he was right. A few days later, our baby granddaughter, Kiah, took my heating pad and said, You don’t have to cry, Mamaw, you won’t have any pain in heaven when God takes your pain away. Finally, our eldest granddaughter, Amber, prayed, thanking God for removing my back pain when I get to heaven.

You see, while praying a few months back that God would remove the pain and let me continue an active life that involves teaching, a still, small voice said no. God made it very clear He has another plan for me in the next season of my life, but I ignored those words. I didn’t like that answer, so I thought I might need to fast and pray because I didn’t have a clear answer. After fasting and praying, the answer remained the same.

Maybe that is why God speaks to children—they are pure and they listen to that still, small voice, although they do not always listen to the loud calling voices of adults. They almost always purposefully choose to listen to that still, small voice. They don’t question who is talking or why or when.

I have a choice as do you—we can choose to go through this painful valley and become bitter on the other side or we can choose to go through this valley of pain and become better on the other side. Let’s face it, anyone in their right mind wants to be better on the other side, but do we really want to do what it takes to get to the other side of this pain as a better person?

This particular valley of pain that I am currently experiencing is my back. My back is the source of excruciating pain that on the pain scale would have to be a ten plus! What is your valley of pain? What type of pain are you in? Physical? Emotional? Spiritual?

For you, the reader: Take a few minutes to identify your pain and meet me in the next chapter.

2

Beginning of Pain

B e still and know that I am the Lord your God—yes, that is what I am finally doing this cool fall day, complete with heating pad on my back and Bible on my lap. How did I get to this place, you ask? The journey began a long time ago when a man and woman fell in love, got married, and was blessed with their first baby girl whom they named Debbie Lynn. This is a trip of counting my blessings, even the ones that came in the form of teardrops.

If you are old enough to remember the 1950s in this great country we call America, you know that to say our country was filled with chaos was an understatement. There was a lot of segregation—racial, socioeconomic, immigrant, and gender, just to name a few. You might have heard the rumor that when you graduated from high school in the South, such as West Virginia or Kentucky, you would receive a diploma and a road map to the buckeye state, Ohio. This was more than a rumor.

My father graduated from high school in Sharples, West Virginia, and was given two options—military or Ohio, where there was an abundance of jobs. He enrolled in the navy; how ironic it was since he did not know how to swim. Well, it didn’t take long before he was honorably discharged due to a medical condition. This brought the baby of the Carrasco family back home to a coal mining camp in Sharples.

So now it was time for option 2—road trip to Cleveland, Ohio.

Those country roads would now lead to a vastly different type of lifestyle. No longer would my father be wrapped in the arms of a loving coal-mining, immigrant family; now he would be introduced to the American dream by the men who built America. St. Paul wrote that he who does not work, shall not eat. These words became the backbone of our growing country, especially Cleveland, Ohio—a city that was built around Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, where anyone could easily make a good living if he was willing to work.

Within days of landing on the west side of Cleveland, he landed several jobs—one at the steel mill, one at the car manufactory, and one at the international airport. He worked all three for some time, then finally settled on the steel mill where he literally worked ’til the day he died. The word provider is synonymous with father in my perspective.

Now we all know it takes two to make a baby! Let me give you a little background about my mother. Born and raised in West Virginia until the mines starting going down, at which point her parents moved to Kentucky to look for work to no avail. They also had heard the rumor of jobs in abundance in Cleveland, Ohio, so they loaded up their cars and moved north.

In this booming urban area on the west side of Cleveland, numerous Southern people formed their own family in building structures known as apartment buildings. Just so happens that of all the apartment buildings in Cleveland on the west side, my parents were located in the same complex. By the time I was born on a cold, snowy February day; this one apartment building housed my parents, both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and numerous cousins.

Where was God in the coming together of my family? God had not abandoned any of us; He showed Himself numerous times from the arriving of my parents to this big city to the hospital where I was born. Back in this point of history, babies were considered a blessing from our Lord and were prayed over, as well as their mothers. There was not an active safety committee in any of these booming industrial sites, so when there was a fatal accident, a priest or a pastor was present to pray for the families and coworkers. God was alive and watching over our family. Jeremiah 1:5 states that before God formed us in the womb, He knew us.

For you, the reader: Take a few minutes to reflect