Yet, Hope

Although I don’t always write on suffering and loss, and I certainly didn’t plan on this third post in a row on the subject, it seems that is just where I am right now. (You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here if you like.)

This past week, I’ve been saddened by two friends with cancer and another who lost her husband. Since we just celebrated Easter and the resurrection of Christ, I’m extra sensitive to His presence and of “garden pain” He experienced in Gethsemane. The picture of Christ sweating drops of blood and asking for a different outcome shows us how to approach pain and loss.

We see Jesus grieved, asked for a different way to bring salvation to the world, and yet submitting to His Father’s will over His own. That is what I’ve seen in the lives of these three friends above that I mentioned, their hope and faith standing strong in the midst of suffering and loss.

Well, he was the Son of God. He could do that, but let’s take a look at David’s very similar agony in Psalm 22. In verses 1-2, we sense his pain and confusion:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

Sounds very familiar to the agony of Jesus in the garden doesn’t ? But in verse 3, David claims truth about God:

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

So, we see a completely human response here. An example for us to follow.

It just so “happens” I am doing a Bible study by Whitney Capps called We Over Me.

It’s a study about the church and how to live in a community of believers with a “we, over me” attitude. Whitney is walking us through the letters to the seven churches in Revelation and this past week we took a look at Smyrna. This church was suffering unfair persecution for their faith, but Jesus reminds them in Revelation 2:8 that He is the the “first and the last, who died and came to life.” He knows all about their pain and even tells them it’s about to temporarily get worse. But He also knows their eternal reward and encourages them to endure in faith.

The same day I studied about the church at Smyrna, I read a blog post by Carey Nieuwhof whom I read quite often. It was titled Why Christians Should Stop Saying Prayer Works. The title alone caught my attention, especially since two of these three friends received some positive answers that correlated with the prayers we were praying for them.

As I read the post, I was reminded that we are often guilty of saying, “God answered that prayer!” when we get the answer we prayed for. One friend needed her blood work to look much better to be released from CCU where this very young friend spent over a week following her second round of chemo.

Another friend with cancer is on chemo and it’s tearing her up…this after 12-14 years of cancer treatments and near death numerous times. She asked us to pray for her son, (who years ago had a cancer experience himself) who might have lymphoma, the same diagnosis that began her cancer journey years ago.

The third friend I mentioned above has, for several years, been care-taking her elderly mother, other relatives and her husband who has suffered numerous debilitating health issues. He broke his hip this past week and we were praying for quick healing.

The first friend got to go home from the hospital as her counts rose quickly overnight after days of praying without a change. So easy to praise God for that answer we so desired from Him.

The second friend sent a text that her son, who is married and has young children, did NOT have lymphoma! Again, a huge praise to God!

For the third, the answer was a healing, but not exactly what we were praying for. After hip surgery, although this sweet friends husband came through it doing well, he was healed completely and eternally. This was a bit harder to be thankful for.

As Nieuwhof said in his post, what do we say to that? God didn’t answer? We aren’t blessed? Of course not. We know in our hearts God always hears the prayers of His followers, but sometimes our minds begin to question that, even as Job wondered where God was when he lost almost all he had in life.

We have to understand that prayer always works because prayer is not about the answer near as much as it’s about the relationship with Christ through prayer. And, we aren’t only blessed when we get the answer we want. We are blessed because He cares and He responds to all our prayers.

No matter what we are praying, there is ALWAYS hope because Christ is always with us in the midst of our pain and loss. There is always hope because we have eternity. As we discipline ourselves to keep our eyes on that, we can freely and honestly grieve and tell God how much it hurts. Expression of pain is a part of the healing and we do not need to feel guilty about it. But let’s seek to allow Him to draw us closer than we have ever been as we grieve.

Here’s the thing I’ve seen through these three friends. All are walking in faith as they suffer. All are pointing to Christ in the midst of it. All are showing me what faith and hope look like practically and all are influencing my life. I want to exhibit that same faith to others when I am facing pain and loss. Don’t you?

Let’s return one last time to the final two verses of Psalm 22 to see how our response can affect those who come after us:

Posterity shall serve him [the Lord, author added] ; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Whatever you are going through, there is a purpose and there is hope. Don’t rush the grief process, but always cling to Christ as you grieve. (You can find a great series on grieving well at this site under “Hurting Women“). Then, one day, God will put people in your life who need to understand that kind of journey through suffering, yet with HOPE.

Lord, forgive my grumbling over things that don’t matter. Thank you that you are with me when I cry out in pain over things that do. Remind me that walking with hope no matter what, will shine Your light to others in pain.

Banner photo by Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash