Suffering & Comfort

Before we lost Joshua I would hear Christians talk about suffering and they would say, "We suffer because Jesus suffered." That would always ring a little hollow for me, a middle class girl living in the United States (in the southern United States, even more so). What did suffering even look like? Maybe getting a weird look when you say a blessing out to eat at a restaurant? Having to put up with jokes about Christianity? People questioning you and your faith? Maybe feeling alone in many settings? While all those things might be difficult to endure in some ways; when I think of suffering in the big picture, those things are nothing. In fact even from where I stand today, I feel like I've only had a tiny peek into what suffering truly is.

Paul says "For as the sufferings of Christ flow into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:5. There is a comfort that I've only experienced talking to others or reading the words of others who have been through similar situations. Almost nothing needs to be explained, you don’t feel so alone, you don’t have to make excuses or try to put words to what is truly unspeakable. The circumstances are different, but the thoughts and feelings run like a common thread through each loss. This must be a glimpse of what it is like to go through a traumatic experience with others who you don’t know, like hostages or a plane crash. None of us can know, and to try to relay it all with words is so insufficient, but they know what words cannot convey.

Maybe that’s how it is with Christ and His Church. When we experience suffering, to whatever degree, it gives us a kinship with Christ. Through that, the comfort of Christ then can overflow to others. I don’t believe for a second that God made Joshua die, but I do believe that he allowed Joshua to die. Why - I’ll never know on this earth. But I do know that what this world broken by sin and the evil one who prowls around like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour brought to me, God will use for good; God’s story for his people is a story of redemption. In some small way, perhaps now the mind of Christ is a small but growing part of me. That doesn’t make it all better, but it does bring some comfort.

Grace and peace.