Pain

Not surprisingly, Lewis speaks in this book The Problem of Pain about pain. He begins by describing that there are two types of pain, the first “A particular kind of sensation, probably conveyed by specialized nerve fibers, and recognizable by the patient as that kind of sensation whether he dislikes it or not” the other is “Any experience, whether physical or mental, which the patient dislikes.” Lewis states that for the purposes of his work, he will be using pain in the sense of the second definition.
Lewis says that when everything is going well for us, we think we have “all we need” and yet there are so many times we are far from God, meaning that we do not have “all we need” because we do not have God. I really identified with this because I can see this pattern in my own life. When life seems good, I often forget to thank God for the gifts He has given me. In fact, I forget God all together until this “good” time in my life changes into a “valley” or low time in my life. It is only then that I seem to remember God, and I seem only to remember Him because I need something from Him. I am ashamed to admit how often this happens to me. I think the quote Lewis mentions from his friend sums it up the best. He states "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it."
I also have realized that I need to thank God for even these low times. It is these times of pain—the spiritual deserts that I go through that really bring me closer to Him in the end. Although I do not realize or understand why God has sent me a pain or a “thorn in the flesh” as Paul dubs it, I have learned to find comfort in that fact. Having this comfort does not, however, take the pain away. The pain is still very much present in my life.