The Meaning of Pain

So, I'm sitting in my room right now. My heels are absolutely torn up and I'm listening to music as my stomach quietly rumbles and whines about how hungry it is. I'm exhausted. My shoulders hurt and my toes are blistered. I just finished up a ruck run/march.
For those of you who don't know what a ruck is, think of those large hiking backpacks. Turn it green. Put a metal frame on the outside of the pack and you've basically got a ruck sack. Now, imagine running with something like that strapped to your back. Up and down hills, along roads, through muck and mud and everywhere else you're led. That's a ruck run. It's actually a lot of fun, once you get into it, but like all sports and physical activity, there is some amount of pain involved.
This really got me wondering on the age old question, why dose God allow us to have pain? Why make pain of all things? I mean, it's just so... well, painful.
Pain is something that blinds our judgement. It makes it difficult to think and concentrate. It draws all of our focus and attention to the spot of pain. It eats away at you the longer it remains. It can keep you from sleep and rob you of energy.
We admire those that can look beyond their pain. That can push themselves past the point of pain and continue to move. Star athletes and professional anythings are looked up to. Many are considered heroes and role models simply for their ability to overlook and overcome this almost simple sensation.
So, I'll ask again, why are we given pain? We know that Christ went through some serious pain when he was on the cross. Not only was he being hung from his hands and feet by nails, he had also been stabbed in his side, whipped, beaten, and forced to carry his cross through crowded streets on his own back with a crown of thorns dug into his scalp. Through all of this, he continued to forge ahead. He forgave those around him. He held his composure, even through all of that pain. He died asking God to forgive the people around them because they did not know what they were doing. He ministered from his cross, in the midst of his pain and struggle. He was still human. He had no relief from the pain until death took over.
Is He not then someone we should look up to? Did He not overcome immense pain? We look at police officers and award and comfort them when they are shot at or carry out a dangerous operation. We see them as heroes. Whenever a soldier returns home, after all the pain that he or she's been through, we give them medals and ribbons and hold parades in their honor. When a firefighter leaps into a burning building head-first, we congratulate and thank them. Why then do we not celebrate what Christ did for us?
He survived pain far beyond what many of us have or will ever experience, and yet we ignore Him. We ignore His help and shun His council. We turn our backs on Him, whether we realize it or not.
So, why do we have pain in life? Why is life a struggle? Why does there have to be this difficulty in our lives?
The answer is that it makes us understand just what Christ went through. It helps us to realize the immense sacrifice that he gave for us. We swear when we stub our toes, but Jesus was able to bless and pray for the man that stabbed Him in His side and ask forgiveness for those that had beaten and whipped Him. Jesus gives us an example of how we should deal with and manage the pain of our everyday walk with Him. And it is not to flamboyantly show it off nor is it to bring others into our misery. It is to overcome and move beyond it. To become more than we are through an overcoming of that pain and anguish in our lives.
So, what pains are you trying to block out instead of overcoming? Face them head on and see what happens. You'll find that when you take on the pain in your life, it quickly crumbles away and you can move forward further and faster than you ever were before.