Our olfactory nerves have this amazing way of letting us know when we need to stay away from something; especially so that we don’t eat it. Stench is a natural warning sign that something is wrong and our physical bodies are equipped to recognize the warnings of things that stink.
Similarly, our physical bodies consistently alert us when something is not right. Most often, the sensation we have is pain. It might be a sharp pain, a dull pain, an ache, a throb, whatever, but the point is that something with our bodies isn’t as it should be, and the pain signifies that we need to fix it. That may mean taking medicine, resting, or even seeking competent medical assistance to diagnose and correct what ails us, but one way or another, the pain isn’t usually the problem, just the signal.
(Interesting sidenote: in some languages, unlike English, there is no explicit distinction between the words “mental” and “spiritual”.) In our subconscious (mental or spiritual state), we also experience pain and often even use terms loaded with graphic imagery like heartache, anguish, despair, and depression to identify when something hurts us but not in a physical way.
Sometimes life stinks and other times it really hurts (you can even think of other terms you might substitute there and you’ll find that they all generally relate to or come from terms pertaining to physical pain). Pain is real, whether it is pain in the physical body or pain in the subconscious, there is no denying that certain things hurt and that there are varying degrees of pain.
One of my favorite words in the scriptures is heal. I love the concept that if we come to the Savior, he will heal us. Life is definitely not easy and our experiences are not intended to be free from pain. Pain alerts us that something is not exactly right. Perhaps we have a thorn or a splinter under our skin. Maybe we’ve stared at a screen too long or failed to drink enough water. Or possibly we took on too much or pushed ourselves to do more than we were physically prepared to do. Or maybe we have failed to recognize that God’s will is different from our desires, or our faith is not as strong as it needs to be. Perhaps we have lost something or someone that is really important to us and we need to mourn for a time. Whatever the cause of the pain and whatever the steps we may need to take to remedy the situation, I testify that our Savior can help us through it. He may tell you what you can do to change the situation, or He may simply lift you high enough that you can bear it.
If you come unto Him, He will heal you.
