A Heart for Those Who Suffer

Suffering is another one of those difficult questions we have for God. Why, God? Why allow it? Why not remove it? How can you call yourself loving, merciful, and compassionate when children die for lack of food, people live in deplorable conditions, and the rich just get richer?

I am not here to answer this question. We ought to wrestle with it. It is one to lay before God.

Maybe one reason why we point the finger at God and blame him, is because it gets us off the hook. But we can’t be off the hook when it comes to suffering. People suffer. That ought to matter to us and we ought to do what we can to help alleviate suffering.

A friend recently gave me an email he received from a family friend, Jessica. I don’t know the details of Jessica’s life and family. I don’t even know where she lives, but it is clear she lives in the midst of suffering. Here are a few of her words:

We all came down with typhoid and dysentery at the same time. It was a terrible time. As I struggled to get myself off the bathroom floor, I could hear my little ones getting sick and calling out to me. Not being able to help them was a form of torture . . . Thankfully, Kyle was well enough to drive us to the emergency room before dawn on Sunday morning. . . When we arrived we were able to get fluids, run tests and get good meds. Cipro is a wonder-drug as far as I’m concerned. We are now on the road to recovery.

When I was sick, I was thinking about what it must be like for those around me who get this sick all the time. I was thinking about our brothers and sisters who have no bed to rest the aching, cramping muscles that come with the fevers. I was thinking about how they had no toilets and no way to wash after being so, so sick. And I was thinking about how they have no access to medical care. This is too much for me to think about and it is keeping me up at night. I was thinking about even those who do have health care and a loving environment to help nurse us back to health. . . It makes me wonder why we as humans are too busy to notice what it is like to suffer. . . God has us go through things like this for a reason, of this I am sure. But I wonder if the reason has anything to do with the fact that we are to be a blessing to others around us when they suffer.

I guess this is the central theme of the New Testament, but I am afraid that even the message of Jesus has gotten lost in the ways of the world these days. We all know it is right and good to care for others. But I think we are missing the reason WHY we should. I think the reason is because we are all spiritually connected, whether we follow after the ways of Jesus or not. By being made human and in the likeness of God, we are all made to connect with humanity.

I don’t know that we’ll ever “make sense” of suffering, but we sure can step into the lives of those who suffer.