Grace in Suffering
At the time of writing this I am sitting in a hospital room watching my wife recover from emergency surgery. She’s in pain, nauseous, uncomfortable, and doesn’t know exactly when she’s going to get to go home. It’s hard to watch someone you love suffer and go through difficult times. I’d rather it be me.
But as I sit here in the quiet and in the waiting, I am overwhelmed with God’s grace. His grace to be present here with us, walking through the pain and unknown alongside of us, and even being in us to provide for all that we need.
I’ve witnessed His grace to provide great medical care through gifted, skilled, and trained surgeons, doctors, nurses, and physical therapists. I’ve experienced His grace through family and friends who waited with us before and during the surgery and offered words of encouragement, love, and grace.
I’ve seen God’s grace through His church. So many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have reached out, prayed for us, and even already brought meals to provide for our family. I grieve for those who suffer alone and apart from the Lord and His church. It must be so lonely.
Above and beyond the grace we have experienced throughout this unexpected medical emergency, I’ve encountered God’s grace for others. He’s given me much more empathy for those who have suffered so much greater than us and continue to do so each and every day without any relief in sight. I mourn for them but pray they will encounter His presence, comfort, peace, and reassurance moment by moment.
The apostle Paul knew what it was like to suffer, yet God told him that His grace was sufficient for him (2 Corinthians 12:9). And it is.
It’s sufficient because of what Paul declared in Ephesians 1:3:
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
If we have placed our faith in Jesus for salvation, we are united to Him. We are one with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We have access to all of God, all of the time.
Through that union, we have every spiritual blessing there is to possibly have. Peace, comfort, assurance, strength, hope, love, mercy, and grace are ours in any and every situation. We can experience all of God and His blessings even in the midst of our suffering.
Thank God for His grace in suffering.
If you are in the midst of a season of difficulty, don’t miss His grace.
Don’t miss His blessings that are available to you through your union with Him.
Don’t miss His grace through the church (The Body of Christ). He’s united you not just to Himself but to others in His family. Sometimes He ministers to you and allows you to experience those blessings you have in Him through your relationships with the other members of His body.
My hope and prayer for you is that the Lord will move you out of this season of pain, difficulty, and suffering, but even if He doesn’t, remember what He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
