The pains you bear in both shoulders are not without purpose, nor has the Lord forgotten you. Consider this affliction as a spiritual surgery, a medicine applied to the soul. Just as the body’s wound is tended with the knife, so the soul often requires the bitter sting of suffering to be cleansed from the dullness that creeps in from comfort and self-reliance. Do not, then, lose heart or be cast down by the ache that lingers after the surgeon’s work. The hand that permitted this pain is the same that heals and the same that strengthens.
I would not speak lightly, for I know the body’s complaints can weary the spirit and make the mind sink low. Yet that very low spirit is what you must fight, more than the pain itself. A cheerful soul set upon God can endure what the flesh finds grievous, but a despairing mind makes even a small affliction double. Therefore, while you ask for healing, as well you should, for the Lord hears the cry of the suffering, ask also for the strength to bear what is allowed, and for the wisdom to see in this trial a cure for something deeper. Perhaps the pain is sent to remind you that this body is passing, that luxury or ease had made it flabby and unready for the battle of the spirit. Perhaps it calls you to a closer walk with Christ, who Himself bore far greater agony without complaint.
Let the pain become your teacher, not your tyrant. When it throbs, lift your mind to the One who permitted it. Say, “Lord, I accept this medicine from Your hand; grant me patience, and if it please You, relief.” Do not demand healing as though it were your due, but entrust yourself to His care, knowing that even if He does not remove the thorn, He will give grace sufficient. For what can bodily pain truly harm, if the soul stands upright in faith? It can steal no virtue, unless you surrender your peace to it. Instead, it can become the very thing that crowns you with patience and draws you nearer to eternal life.
Recall how Christ, though He could have escaped all suffering, willed to endure the cross for us. He did not flee the pain but transformed it into the source of our healing. Your small share in that suffering, offered in union with Him, becomes a sweet fragrance. So do not let the ache of shoulder and joint lead you into murmuring. Let it lead you into prayer, into thanksgiving even, for God has counted you worthy to be tried like gold in the furnace.
Pray for healing, yes, but pray also that you may laugh at the enemy’s attempt to use pain to break your spirit. Hold fast, and remember that no suffering of the body can separate you from the love of Christ. May the Lord Jesus Himself visit you with His comfort, and whether He chooses to restore your strength quickly or slowly, may He make you more than conqueror through the patience that endures all things. Amen.