Thankful for Headaches?

On Monday I had a headache. Not your run-of-the-mill, garden variety headache, but rather the “mother-of-all-headaches” type of headache. The kind of headache that makes a pin drop sound like the 1812 Overture performed with real cannons. It was the type of headache that causes one to dream of less painful experiences such as passing a kidney stone or having a root canal without the benefit of anesthesia.

Down through the years, I have had my share of headaches (parent of teenager experiences not included). From my earliest days, I remember having headaches. That’s just the way it is. Maybe I have a hyper-sensitive headache chromosome in my DNA (if there is such a thing). Paul had a “thorn in his flesh;” Superman had kryptonite; the Road Runner had Wile E Coyote; and I have headaches. That’s just the way it is. Usually they are quite manageable, and most folks don’t even know that there is a teeny tiny marching band practicing for the Macy’s parade in my noggin—but on occasion the headache is a little more than that. Monday was such a night.

As I was lying in bed, head pounding, I prayed: “God why does a nice preacher like me have headaches?”
God didn’t answer.
So I prayed: “God is there any lesson I can learn from feeling like the lead drummer from the 80’s rock and roll band KISS has taken up residence in my cranium?”
God didn’t answer that one either.

While lying in the darkened room, I did think of the Bible verse that says “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Hmmm… thanks for headaches? Is that possible? So with my head doing its best impersonation of a jackhammer hooked up to an amplifier, I tried to think of reasons why I should be thankful for my “brain pain.” Here is my partial list:

1) I am thankful that my headaches are usually quite manageable. Some folks have “thorns in their flesh” that are much more serious.

2) I am thankful that my headaches are usually gone by the next day. Some folk’s ailments last years and years.

3) I am thankful that ibuprofen usually helps headaches.

4) I am thankful that while Karla’s kisses haven’t proven to have any medicinal purposes, she will still “kiss my forehead to make it feel better.” (Please don’t tell her that her kisses usually don’t make it “feel better,” because I still like her smooches on my melon from time to time.)

5) I am thankful that my schedule allowed me a night to be in bed by 8 o’clock instead of at a meeting or trying to minister to a family while enduring the headache to end all headaches.

6) I am thankful that my headache will be gone soon enough, I know some pastors whose “headaches” include unruly church members, uncertain finances, and a troubled home life—in other words, things that won’t be remedied by a couple of aspirin.

7) I am thankful that God has promised to prepare a place where there will be no headaches or sickness or pain or grieving or tears. I don’t know much about my heavenly mansion. I don’t know if it will be a Cape Cod Style Mansion or a Ranch style, but I know this: there won’t be a medicine cabinet on the inside or a handicap parking spot on the outside.

I am sure that there are other reasons to be thankful for headaches, but that was all the ibuprofen induced fog would allow me to remember.

Maybe you’ve had some things that would, under normal circumstances, cause you to be less than thankful, but being on an adventure with God (this Christian journey) means that life can no longer be referred to as “normal circumstances.” When God is in control then everything that happens has the opportunity to be a grace-filled moment. Every trial has the potential to lead to a place where God receives the glory. Every burden can be a spot where His Name is lifted high. So, Paul says, “in all circumstances give thanks,” and I’d like to add, “Even if that circumstance is “a Richter Scale 10 headache” give thanks, but pass the ibuprofen, please.”