Did the title get your attention?
It gets mine.
For the past couple of weeks our
Sunday School class has stayed on the same lesson… Suffering.
As we talked about how so many
Christians portray Jesus as the end to all your troubles and easy streets from
here on out, the honest truth is that with Christianity comes suffering. It’s a Biblical promise.
Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various
trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so
that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
We continued to talk about suffering
and that we should be focused not on our circumstances, but the bigger picture
and not the “why” it’s happening, but the “who” we are really dealing
with. The Lord. The author of the Sunday School lesson book
gave a great explanation of this. When
dealing with suffering we often want to know “why” is this happening. “Why” doesn’t dry your tears, bring back lost
time, nor offers comfort and peace, but The Lord does.
At the end of class, people were sharing
about the silver lining of their suffering.
I almost spoke up to share that Lane and I were different people because
of our suffering. That it was in the midst
of our deepest suffering, preparing to say goodbye to our 3 month old son, we
completely surrendered everything to God and proclaimed that whatever had to
happen to Glorify His Name was our ultimate desire. And from that ultimate surrender in the midst
of our suffering, our hearts found peace and our son found healing.
But I kept my mouth shut.
Why?
Because it is such a hindsight
response. Not an answer for someone right dab in the middle of suffering. Not too many suffering people are excited to hear that they are suffering to become better people. Everyone wants to be a better person, but few of us pray for the suffering that creates that kind of growth.
Don’t get me wrong- I will never discredit the miracle that took
place in our lives a little over 6 years ago.
But life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon; and day to day presents its
new struggles to conquer in the name of the Lord. And although God’s name was glorified in a
life changing way in the midst of those very dark days, wasn’t I back in the
midst of suffering a couple years later begging God for a baby; not being able to worship because my heart
was so full of pain and anger; the decisions facing me too heavy for me to
bear; fear and desperation surrounding me, drowning out the voice of the Holy
Spirit? Letting my circumstances seem
bigger than the Lord and asking why instead of who? Am I not back in those same very dark days again? Suffering once again after surrendering all?
But suffering looks different for me
now. Instead of surrendering to the
suffering, I am surrendering in it.
So what does suffering look like for
me?
Well I can tell you what it doesn’t
look like. You will not see me shying
away from church and friends, sloughing off my prayer time, or shaking an angry
fist at God.
What it does look like is me reaching
out and being real with my friends, and asking for their prayers and
encouragement; making sure I’m active in my church and Sunday School so I can
be there to soak up every bit of love the Lord has placed in my path that day; being
vulnerable to my husband, taking in his reassuring words and letting his
comforting hugs last longer instead of rushing away to do chores; letting him
pray for me and letting him know that he is needed in my life. What suffering looks like for me is squeezing
my babies longer because even though it’s another child I ache for, I am so in
love and thankful for the two I have that I feel like my heart could explode;
praising my Savior with tears in my eyes and remembering that He is bigger than
this suffering. Surrendering to Him, not
the suffering.
What suffering looks like for me is
some of the most tender and precious moments of my life.
Precious friend, I don’t know the
suffering you are facing today. Whether
it’s days of depression, the pregnancy test that refuses to show 2 pink lines, a
husband or wife you can’t see eye to eye with, a stack of bills and long line
at the unemployment office, the devastating diagnosis at the doctor’s office…
or maybe life has been easy for a while and you can’t remember what suffering is
like… Whenever suffering comes, not “if” it comes, but “whenever”, the days can
be dark, far from easy to get through, and circumstances may seem too heavy and
unbearable. Don’t let the suffering
harden your heart. Let your suffering be
a tender and precious time of growing. Don’t
focus on the “why”, but the “who” and let your suffering change your life in a
beautiful way. Do not surrender to the
suffering, but surrender to Him in it.
