Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Why God Allows Pain

I got this story in an email- one of those mass mailers I never want to read. But I was surprized to learn that Tony Dungy has a son who has a condition that allows him never to feel pain. So here it is- a great story worth the read:


Below is a very touching story about Tony Dungy, Coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and the essence of his purpose in life. It was most amusing to hear Coach Dungy's responses to the TV sports interviewer, when he was asked how great it was to be one of the first "African-American" head coaches to take his team to a Super Bowl? Head Coach "Tony Dungy" responded immediately with: "Yes that's good, but what is really great and awesome, is how God worked this out for us; it's just amazing how He made this all come together!" Thus, (as Paul Harvey would say after reading the following) "and now, you know the rest of the story."

Dungy Makes Super Bowl Stop to Speak at Athletes in Action Breakfast DETROIT, Mich. - They were there for breakfast, and they were there to cheer New York Jets running back Curtis Martin. And it was Martin who received the Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award Saturday morning, but the hundreds who gathered in fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott Renaissance in Detroit, Mich., on the morning before Super Bowl XL were clearly touched by the featured speaker. That speaker was Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy.

Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent Jones introduced Dungy, who was welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. Dungy thanked the crowd, shared an anecdote about Martin, then told the crowd he was going to speak for about 15 minutes. "It's great to be here," Dungy told the crowd, then adding with a laugh, "I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker. "My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so>you could see their hearts and what they're all about. "It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."

He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke. And although this was a breakfast - and although at many such events speakers speak over the clinking of glasses and murmurs from semi-interested listeners - for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent except for Dungy's voice. He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a problem." He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital condition which causes him not to feel pain. "He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said. The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many. "That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's not," Dungy said.

"We've learned a lot about pain in the last five years we've had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and what's harmful." Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies. "Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good>out on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him." Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to watch him."

The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple. "You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?'' Dungy said. "We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little, temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right things. "Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be>healed. Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right to the spot. "Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the Father."

Finally, he spoke of James. James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas. As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons learned and of the positives taken from experience. "It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said. Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a real,>real blessing to me."

Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar messages."People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy said. "That is a tremendous blessing." Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors programs. "We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous blessing."

Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. "When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my life's been different since that day." Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God's love is all about."

Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and>Dungy returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer wassimple. "People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm>not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very, very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. "He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven.' "That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful. "That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same thing."

Comments:
Great message.
Thanks for sharing.
 
I grew up and went to school with a guy who could feel no pain. In 1976 at the age of 20 he went to prison for the second time and will never get out.

I once saw him get in a fight with a monster of a man. The man knocked him all the way across the hood of a 64 Ford 3 times and broke both of his jaws but we still had to drag him off the guy.

I also had a German Shepherd puppy with the same sort of condition. One he ran headlong into the wall knocked him self out cold, woke up a few minutes later and ran straight into the same wall. That was the only dog I never managed to train to do anything. As a 6 month old puppy he was so aggressive he couldn't be handled by anyone without food in their hands and when he finished the food the feeder again became a target.

Faith or not the coach's son is going to be a handfull.
 
I am always amazed at people who are afraid to die, or give up this physical body. I can understand not really wanting to die and leave loved ones behind and perhaps unfinished things you wanted to do. But to actually be terrified of the very thought. Well, I've known several people in my life who claimed to be good Christians and yet were terrified of dying, two of whom were actually dying. How can one fear dying when we know what is just across that thin barrier?. Don't we all know and have faith in Christ's word? As much as Coach Dungy hurt for his son he would not want him back knowing his son was in a place of so much more love and happiness beyond our earthly comprehension.

I enjoy stopping by from time to time Chip just for the lovely stories you bring to us.
 
Thank you for sharing your pain and how you handled it. I know it will bless all who read it. I too went through trails with the death of both parents and a brother who hung himself in Florida. i was angry with God and was filled with pain and hate. What helped me turn my life around was when i read in the bible that God says my ways are not your ways and my ways are higher than your ways. for i am the potter and you are the clay. can the clay tell the potter what to make it? That truth put fear in me and i continued to read where Gods love for me is bigger than i can even imagine. its so big he knows the number of hairs on my head. I cant even do that, so that means God Loves me more than I love myself. wow.. what a awesome God. Thank you Father for your unending love. Thank you brother Tony for loving His sheep. keep up the Faith. In Christ Love. Brother Doug
 
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