The haunting refrain of Corey Asbury's "Only Jesus for My Pain" speaks to a truth I've come to know deeply:

“I must have tried 'most everything, It ended all the same. For good and bad, I realized, Only Jesus for my pain."

Self-medication, in its many guises, presents itself as a beacon of relief, promising escape from the grip of pain and trauma. Whether through the distractions of this world, the numbing embrace of substances, or the hollow solace of pleasures fleeting, each attempt at self-healing proves futile. The reality is harsh but clear: self-medication doesn't work. It's like applying a band-aid to a wound that requires surgery—it might cover the surface, but it does nothing to heal the deep-seated infection beneath.

The pain and trauma of a Gethsemane moment in life is real. It's a moment of acute suffering and anguish, where the weight of the world seems to rest upon one's shoulders, much like Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. Acknowledging this pain is crucial; to ignore it is to deny a part of our humanity and our need for true healing. However, the mistake often made in these moments is to believe that we can face them alone, that our own strength and remedies will suffice. They do not, and they cannot.

My Gethsemane moments often pushed me to the place where the pain was so palpable, so overwhelming, that no earthly solution could provide the peace I desperately sought. It was in this darkest hour that the truth of Asbury's words shone like a beacon: "Only Jesus for my pain." Turning to Jesus was not an act of giving up but rather an act of surrender to a love greater than any pain, a power stronger than any trauma.

In Jesus, I found not only a listener for my woes but a bearer of my burdens. He, who sweated blood in anticipation of the world's weight He was to bear, understood my pain intimately. In Him, I found healing not because He removed the trials of life, but because He transformed them. He offered not a way around the pain but a way through it, with a peace that defies explanation and a hope that burns eternal.

This realization has been transformative. Finding healing and peace in Jesus is not about denying the reality of our suffering but about confronting it with a power and love that transcends it. It is about recognizing that our Gethsemane moments, though fraught with pain, are not void of purpose. In Jesus, our deepest wounds can become sources of our greatest strength, our most profound pain a wellspring of empathy and compassion for others.

"Only Jesus for my pain" has become more than a lyric; it is a lived truth. It is the acknowledgment that in Him alone we find the salve for our soul's deepest wounds. This journey from pain to peace is not one of avoidance but of profound encounter, where each step, no matter how painful, is guided by His hand. In Jesus, we find not just a temporary reprieve but a forever refuge, a healing that reaches the depths of our being, transforming our Gethsemane moments into testimonies of His unfailing love and grace.

Jim

The Chaplain Writer