"Just be strong, pray more, don't give up...you know God has chosen you special...He won't put any more on you than you can endure..." You're familiar with these usually "well-meaning" statements that we toss at people as they struggle or attempt to live under as sufferings set in. Reactions become a toss-back of slighted smiles or "yes I know" but deep within, thoughts circle in turbulence. Why me? How does God choose the Job's of this modern world and why do I feel so isolated? Can I pray more? Did Job pray more? Well I am not Job, and I do feel like giving up.
As I have lived on both sides of this predicament, I am still shocked at how diluted we as Christians react to suffering. We are so complex in making decisions such as how my money and time are spent...who deserves my gifts? When it comes to suffering, we shoot from the hip such trite sayings and walk away as though things are sealed. The deal is done. I have done my part. I can check that of my list and continue living my life. It's not a picture of compassion. It skirts on being self-absorbed and shallow.
Yet, our model, Jesus, listened to the people he encountered. He listened with his "whole" self, all in-totally present. He stopped, slowed down and listened. He responded with healing sometimes, mostly listened and gave great comfort. Yes, He is God, but he came to this Earth to live among us and to resonate with our world, by the way, He created. He came to sit with us, walk with us, live among us. He created us in His image and set the pace for how we can live at peace, find hope and experience joy.
As smart as we are and with much reason, we complicate the minor things and slide through the heart of suffering. We miss the people. Jesus was pretty simple. He welcomed the stranger, visited the outcast, shared a meal among the enemy and freed those without hope. He met those sitting at the pools of healing and deeply looked into the heart of the man who had been in the same spot, probably for years. He didn't condemn his position; he asked a simple question, "Do you want to be made well?" He stopped time for a moment and saw the heart before him.
What if we modeled our lives after such simple grace? What if we concerned ourselves with listening? What if we just shut our mouths and stopped fighting for the who gets credit? We just might see Jesus. I cannot believe the model for living which Jesus lived is obsolete in my world today. My faith is just that, built on unseen things. A concept which my mind cannot comprehend yet why does my "heart grow weary and why do the shadows come?" My answer...I know whom I have believed, that He is able...
I say this with a heavy heart as I see my own life...looking down scares me and the unknown creates panic. But I must return to the well...so that I may not thirst again.
