“My tummy hurts!” wailed three-year-old Jelly on our way home from church last night. By the time we arrived home, he had fat little tears sliding down his soft cheeks. I hugged him and sent him to change into pajamas. A few minutes later I checked on him and he was sound asleep on his bedroom floor with the light still on!
He ended up waking during the night and crawling into bed with me. His head hurt and his tummy was still upset. I kissed him on his forehead and pulled him close to me and he said, “I still don’t feel better.” I chuckled softly because we always say kisses make everything feel better but even in his sleepiness, he knew kisses don’t always make everything better.
Sometimes, I want an instant fix too. When I’m not feeling well or things aren’t going just as I planned, I want God to fix them right away, but that often isn’t His plan for us.
When He took my mom home to be with Him last year, I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I couldn’t breathe through the pain or see through the tears. When I prayed, it was for an instant fix. I wanted my mom back. I wanted the pain to go away. I wanted things to be the way they were before.
Sometimes God allows us suffer. Not because He doesn’t love us, but because He can see past our pain and through our suffering, He blesses believers. He will also use our suffering to mature us as believers in a quicker way. God uses our suffering to direct our attention to the things that are really important in our lives.
Does knowing all of this make suffering any less painful? Of course not. It IS, however, God’s will for believers to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 are familiar verses to most of us, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” We won’t understand why we suffer, but we can trust God to know what’s best for us and no matter how difficult this road may be for us to walk, He loves us and will be there every step of the way.
Through our suffering we can cling to the promise of 1 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my own infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Are you suffering this week? Don’t hide your pain or suffer in silence. If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s been finding comfort in the Holy Spirit and through fellow believers who have been there before. Who have felt the same pain and know exactly what I’m going through. Rest in His promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Isaiah 42:16). He LOVES you SO much that He sent His one and ONLY son to die on the cross for you (John 3:16).
No matter what burden you are bearing or how much pain you are suffering, He loves us and only wants the best for us. When you’ve had an unexpected loss of a loved one, or a child who is now in Heaven, or your boss is intolerable to work with and you can’t take it any more, rest in God’s promises of love.