Yesterday I wrote a post, God Forbid It!, but time (and already being way over the recommended blog post word count) didn’t allow me to complete my train of thought. Today I hope to come closer to completing it, though probably not, because on this side of eternity and with this finite mind it’s simply impossible to complete any thought on our God, except the thought that He is indeed GOD.
You can read yesterdays full post by clicking the title of it above. I am beginning this post by copy and pasting the ending of the it:
I have learned that before I pray, I am to ask God how I am to pray, because I do not know the greater purpose behind the circumstances.
Our human reaction to suffering is to remove it from ourselves and others as quick as possible… but sometimes, no most of the times, the sufferings are meant to bring us into the very presence of God, because without them, sin and Satan convince us that we don’t need Him…
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
Hebrews 5:7-9
So how we do know what to pray when we are faced with suffering… or we are faced with the suffering of the ones we love?
In the above passage in Hebrews, did you notice how Jesus approached His suffering?
…with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death
Did it sound like Jesus was super duper excited about His sufferings or not concerned about it all?
Absolutely not!
Yes, He is God, but let us not forget He is also the Son of Man. He came to be the answer to all our questions… He came in the flesh so that He would be able to sympathize with everything that we will ever go through. As we consider how to handle suffering and what to pray when faced with suffering, we don’t have to look any further than our Jesus… who came to teach us all things.
In the gospel of Mark we read
And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”
Mark 14:34-36
Jesus called out to His Father in heaven and said, “All things are possible for You” He had no doubt that God could keep Him from going through this suffering. ALL THINGS are possible for God. Jesus never had a doubt concerning the authority, power, or ability of God. Jesus knew that God was not up in heaven wringing His hands together, pacing the streets of gold, racking His brain, trying to figure a way out of this mess so that His Son would not have to suffer. Jesus fully knew with absolute certainty that with one thought His Father in heaven could remove this cup from Him. Ability and possibility was never the issue.
The issue was always the will of God.
The soul of Jesus was grieved. He was hurting. The agony of His heart is clearly seen. It has been recorded here for us, I believe, so that we can know that the pain we feel, the grief we experience, the agony that comes from suffering does not mean we doubt our God, nor does it mean we lack faith… it simply means this hurts.
We see this again, as we see our Jesus respond to the suffering of others.
Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”
John 11:32-36
Jesus saw their weeping and was deeply moved and troubled and He Himself wept. He saw their suffering and it broke His heart. He wept with them… He wept with them KNOWING He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. The fact that He knew eternal life was coming did not negate the fact the separation of death hurt. And the fact that the separation of death hurt did not mean that Jesus lacked faith or assurance in the resurrection.
Jesus also wept knowing that Mary’s accusation was true. He didn’t rebuke Mary for her words. Jesus did not have to let Lazarus die. However, this was the will of God. He was to die… He was to die because Jesus was to raise him from the dead, so that all who were watching would see the works of God displayed!
Beloved it’s okay to weep. It’s okay to hurt. Death’s separation hurts… and just because it hurts it does not mean that we doubt that those in Christ live even though they die. It doesn’t mean we lack faith. It doesn’t mean we love our God any less… it simply means this hurts.
Jesus rebuked Peter when he said, “God forbid it!” but He did not rebuke Mary when she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
So how do we pray and what do we pray?
“Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”
We pray in faith, knowing that God can do all things, yet we pray in humility and trust, ready to accept His will, even when we don’t understand.
We, here in the States, live in a day when it seems that we should have the means and ability to save everyone from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual pain. We have a self-help books and universities full of people seeking for the right pill and method to stop suffering. Yes, I believe medications and treatments are gifts from God to help us in this fallen world, but they are not our salvation. God’s word has told us to pray for the sick and the suffering, but let us pray also remembering that suffering is never needless nor is it ever without purpose.
The sufferings remind us that we are fallen.
The sufferings remind us that we are helpless.
The suffering remind us that we need a Savior.
The sufferings cause us to look out from ourselves.
The suffering allow the works of God to be displayed in us…
Our human reaction to suffering is to remove it from ourselves and others as quick as possible… but sometimes, no, most of the times, the sufferings are meant to bring us into the very presence of God, because without them, sin and Satan convince us that we don’t need Him…
Sin, suffering, mercy, grace, judgment, joy, love, peace, and everything in between either draws us to the cross of Christ or causes us to run from it… My hope is that no matter what you suffer, or how you see others suffer, this suffering causes you to run to the cross of Christ, to the throne of grace that His suffering made available to all who would come through Him.
Most of all, let us never forget that this world is not our home.