“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 1 Corinthians 12: 26-27

Suffering

The insistent knocking on our front door in the middle of the night finally began to sink into my melatonin-dead sleep; someone was actually outside. Who could be knocking at this hour, I wondered? Panicky thoughts drifted into my mind, as I remembered the last time someone hammered on our country door in the dead of night—the sheriff had been looking for someone.

My husband and I tried to make sense of things as we got dressed to make our way to the door. The hammering continued with urgency, and we sensed something was wrong—very wrong.

Turning on the porch light, and peering out the side window, we realized it was a Christian family from down the street, and hurried to open the door. There was a serious situation and they needed our help.

I’d like to say I leaped into action, but I was still processing stuff—wait, I don’t have any make-up on. And my hair? Oh, my. I hoped no one would ever see me this way. Brother, what vain and goofy thoughts I’m prone to! But there I was—the real me, in front of, well, God and everyone. Once I got past that, I was ready to do what was needed.

And what was needed? What was required of us for a period of time was very “weighty” and I wondered if I’d survive it. Feeling this family’s pain and turmoil was surely what the Bible meant by “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). There were times I thought my heart would break into a million pieces, but I knew that pain was a tiny iota compared to what our friends were going through.

Years ago, a dear sister gave me a wall plaque about love:“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). So many times, I’ve stared squinty-eyed at that sign and said to God, “Really? Even this?” I’ve even thought, well, I can believe and I can hope, but the bearing and enduring is pure torture. Ouch.

“Love suffers long, and is kind…” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Suffering long? Well, I’m just no good at suffering. I’d really rather spend a day on a tropical isle with a cabana server delivering ice tea with just the perfect amount of sweetener. Ahh…. But we all know, eventually the server has to go home, and then we have to fly home, and our perfect little world is over, and we’re back to reality.

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10). There is a true God-purpose and a true God-result to our suffering.

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13). James gets right to the point: as we or someone we know suffers—pray. And keep praying till our knees wear out. Cheerfulness and the singing of psalms will come. Praise the Lord!

Dear Jesus, our mortal brains have trouble with the idea of suffering. We want out, and we want a tropical isle, but we choose to yield to Your purpose and ways. And in that yielding, we find peace. ThankYou, Jesus.  Amen.