PROFIT IN PAIN: CONGENITAL ANALGESIA

“…and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.” ~ Genesis 27:40

REFERENCE:

Genesis 27:30-40

You may wonder what ‘congenital analgesia’ means. It is a birth disorder that makes it impossible for the sufferer to feel pain. Children suffering from this can chew off their tongues or fingers, fracture their bones, or crack their skulls, without feeling the pain. Many of them end up having amputated limbs or even dying young. It is also called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP).

Seeing pain through this lens suggests that pain is not altogether bad. The capacity to feel pain is a gift; that is why you can feel injured, hurt, disturbed, or uncomfortable with something, so that you can avoid it or improve it. Esau lost his father’s blessing; all he got was more or less a curse, “Your brother would be your master; he would be greater and richer than you.” Tearfully, he cried out, “Bless me also, father.” When his father saw that Esau could feel the pain of regret, he told him something instructive, “When you become restless, you will break your brother’s yoke from your neck.” Esau was advised to let his pain motivate him to break his brother’s grip or dominance over his life. This would happen only when he was tired of being a servant, being in want, and living in his brother’s shadow.

Some people are without a job for years, neck-deep in debt, and recording failure after failure, yet, they go around as though all is well. That is Congenital Analgesia. You wonder if they cannot feel the pain or shame of their situation, if they are satisfied with their lot, or are ready to ‘cope’ with it forever. CIP is the enemy of a better life! It makes you blind to what is wrong with your status quo or repeated failure. You do not see the danger your spouse is pointing out to you about your financial future, or the consequences of a habit destroying you. You are losing intimacy in your marriage and yet cannot tell that you need help – that is a big problem.

It is not contentment; it is complacency!

We get accustomed to ‘not-good-enough’ because it happens gradually. Gradually the carpet wears out, the marriage deteriorates, mediocrity creeps in, and before we know it, mediocrity becomes our reality. It is like the proverbial frog that gradually got cooked. At first, it enjoyed the warmth of the water and kept adjusting to the temperature as it increased. By the time it got unbearably hot, it was too late to take action; it had neither time nor energy to do anything about its situation.

Do not get accustomed to what causes you pain as though it cannot change. That is congenital analgesia. Be like Esau, get tired of how things are, and break that negative yoke off your neck.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

I Chronicles 4:9-10 & Genesis 25:20-23

PRAYERS:

+ Lord, I pray for the grace to be restless concerning illegal, negative patterns and occurrences in my life.

+ I refuse to be comfortable around mediocrity, not enough, not good enough, or barely getting by. I am blessed by the Lord, and will not settle for less.

+ I break the yoke of failure, lack, poverty, loneliness, fear, etc., over my life. I declare that I am free to enjoy God’s best for me.