Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes terrible things happen. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes even innocent children suffer. What do we do then? How do we handle things like this when they happen to us or to a loved one?
My favorite sermon in chapel while I was in seminary talked about these questions. Dr. Fred Norris said that when these things happen, we have two choices. We can hold them in our hearts, dwell on them, let them take over much of our lives, in which case they will cause us untold harm physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Heb. 12:15-16).
The other possibility is for us to give our pain and our suffering to God, in which case he will heal our broken hearts and grant us the peace that passes understanding. Often this is done by turning our tragedy into a ministry. Peter wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7). Israel’s King David wrote, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. (Ps. 23:4), and Jesus himself promised, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20). Surely, we never suffer alone.
It takes a great deal for us to be able to give something this emotionally deep and painful to God. This is why Jesus promised to be with us always, and why David wrote about the Lord being with him even in the valley of the shadow of death. God actually helps us in our grief if we will turn to him. This takes a large amount of faith and determination at a very difficult time. This is why he helps us. The more we need him, the more he is there. This is why it is appropriate to think of this as a “sacrifice of suffering.” It costs us something to do this, but the reward is greater than the cost.
Jesus is certainly able to stand by us in our times of suffering, because he has been there himself. One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is found in Isaiah where it calls him, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3) In my role as a police chaplain, I often need someone I can talk to about what I am feeling after a particularly difficult call, and I have found that the person I need to talk to is another chaplain because he has been there and really knows how I feel. Jesus is even better! Let’s give him a sacrifice of our suffering so he can bring healing to us.
