Mired in sufferings

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Cor 4:8-18 

Suffering, affliction, persecution, perplexed, struck down--yes, the older I get, the more suffering I see, the more perplexed I become at situations and conditions in the world, at things people do. I have seen people I know and love afflicted with mental or physical disease, or struck down in the blink of an eye by some calamity...a tornado, a fatal car accident, being in the "wrong place at the wrong time." So much suffering, and pain, and anguish, it can take our mind off our purpose, our goal, our destiny. Like quicksand, we get mired in that suffering, our feet glued into heavy iron boots, and we just stare at our sufferings with our mouths open, like passersby gawking at some tragic and bloody accident on the highway--horrible, death everywhere, but we cannot look away, so we miss the beauty that is right in front of us.  

I'm suffering lately. So are many friends if mine--some physically, some mentally or spiritually, or even all three. Many times (uh, most times) I wallow in my suffering.  I forget the glorious revelations and the eternity that are mine to be had.  Sorrow is a normal emotion, it is healthy, it can be healing, and we should not try to rush through grief, just as one cannot force a physical body to get well faster just by wishing it to be healthy. Suffering is part of living. You can no more avoid suffering than you can avoid breathing. All the money in the world cannot buy eternal happiness, nor can it prevent suffering.  

How I handle suffering and affliction is both determined by my faith, and strengthens my faith. If my faith is in my own abilities, or in some 12-step program of the day, I throw myself on those resources. And I am not relieved. But, the more I remind myself to "look unto the hills from whence my help comes," the closer those hills seem to be, and the quicker I get the help. So how do I handle my suffering? When I am, as I am now, mired in my suffering, my feet locked in its grasping tentacles, do I look down on my suffering? Or do I look up? Or out into the world to see who else may be suffering? Who else could use a smile, or a handshake, or even just someone's eyes to meet theirs and let them know someone else understands their pain.  

In this persecution we are undergoing, do I wring my hands, and cry "woe is me, woe is me" and wonder when will God rescue me from this horrible fate? Or do I realize He will never leave or forsake me, and that this trial, yes, even THIS, had to go through His tender, nail-scarred hands before falling on me? Yes, His will be done, always...not just the will that we wimpy humans want to pick out for ourselves.  

And then there are friends of mine who are ill...seriously ill. They are afflicted, with disease, with failing bodies and minds, and some with failing spirits. A few of them seem to be crushed, appear to be giving up. For these I say a special prayer. Not because I am stronger than they are--oh no, because I, too, have wallowed in that pit of despair many times, and felt the crushing weight of it too much to bear.  Without the prayers of the unseen, I, too, would have been crushed. 

Many have lifted me up so many times, and many still are. And I lift up my dear friends, who are fighting their own battles, and suffering: Steve, Jenny, Holmes, Connie, Lynn, Wayne. Be strong.You are afflicted, but you are NOT crushed. Perplexed, yes, but there ain't no way you will despair. Persecuted by others? Yes, but He will not forsake you, and neither will I. And if you feel struck down, you are NOT destroyed. Hold out your hand. A fellow sufferer will pull you up.  

For as Paul so beautifully wrote to the churches in Corinth and in Rome:

"Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 

and 

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:18.