Distract from the Pain but Neglect the Injury

Most recent research suggests a longheld assumption on the nature of pain and injury.  The most effective method for pain suppression is distraction.  Think of the classic stubbed toe: as long as you are busy doing something else you would never suppose that you had ever injured one of those tiny appendages.  That is, until you stub it again.  And then one is instantly reminded of the reality of injury.  No matter the strength of diversion or the success of the delusion, the injury remains.

It is not much of a stretch to carry this into the spiritual realm, as it is so readily found there.  There are injuries of the spiritual type, deeply-cut wounds and bruises of the spiritual kind.  And, like trauma of the physical, the most natural impulse of pain relief is distraction, diversion, and the like.  This method, however, does not deal with the underlying injury, the cause of the pain still remains though the pain may be dulled by the inebriation of entertainment or amusement or mere leisure.  But still the true injury remains, only to be called upon for resentment, anger, and unrepentant sin in the future the moment it is 'stubbed' again.

Clearly, addressing merely the symptoms would be insufficient to heal the injury.  However, if we only consider the injury when the symptoms are present, then perhaps the issue is not only about the actual injury itself, but we have added to the malady by our own distraction.  Addressing the ailment directly must also then include a consideration of the proclivity to cover the pain caused by the damage.

Spiritually speaking, the injury that ails every human being is sin.  And despite our best efforts at diversion, no amount of distraction will remove the reality fo the injury: we are dead in our sin.  Try as we might, we cannot escape this truth, the heart of our malady is sin itself.  But we our not without hope for this is the very injury to which Christ Himself died to overcome!  We would do well to remember that the next time our spiritual injuries are stubbed and our best distractions are proven to be but mere masks.  To remember that Christ has came to save us from our most severe and mangled hurts is a good focus when we see ourselves prone to distraction.