It does not matter how they reach us, one thing is certain: suffering reveals the depths of our hearts: what we really believe, and not what we believe.
When I said: My foot falters: your mercy, Lord, sustained me.
Multiplying within me my cares, your consolations revived my soul. Psalm 94: 18-19.
Who does not accept suffering, does not know true peace.
In our day to day, we flee diseases as one fleeing the plague. Everything is good for anesthetizing. Therefore, they teach us a lot about ourselves.
It is in the reactions, in the most persistent pains, that our faith is probed, what is our true faith and trust in the Lord, that is our true understanding of his love.
There are not many hours yet, I went through the house of someone who was hit by a stroke. Still very weakened she asked: I. Soares, I want to go to the Cult. As you can imagine, I and my wife helped her get into the car and transported her to the Church. She attended, singing and praising God. She was so happy that it touched everyone.
Her state of health did not deprive her of rejoicing in the presence of the Father of Heaven. As I said back, we learned a lot with the suffering of others.
Not everyone resents or reacts in the same way. All the stories of characters in the Bible show us that. But praise be to the name of God, who in his infinite mercy, still extends his precious hand for those who trust in Him.
Job, in moments of great suffering, never rejected God. Elijah came to the depression, to the point of wishing death. Moses complained, saying that God did not spare him with the burden to lead the people. (Why, he said?) Jeremiah cried out his desire for abandonment and injustice. And then, so many others, unique, always different, were heard by God: who has an account of all our tears.
Personally, when I suffer, I tend to think that God does not see me. That he does not have an account of what I feel.
But I learned this way, to (appreciate) suffering, simply to correct that defect of thinking, linked to my personal history. As I have already observed:
Today I know how to recognize each of the blessings that God has given me, and I know (I do not doubt any more) that even if I have to go through a time of pain, He will hear my cry and free me from my anguish. David lived in that dimension:
"Although I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, I would not fear any evil, because you are with me: your rod and your staff comfort me." Psalm 23: 4
I am part of those who discovered true peace, true life: in the midst of great storms.
I want to affirm also: In the midst of intense suffering, we better understand the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone who is not patient in their pains, does not seek the Lord in depth. We reflect what it means to be thirsty of the Almighty God.
Jesus left us a perfect example: he faced adversity to reach a Crown in Glory:
"He was despised and the most unworthy among men, a man of sorrows, experienced in work and, as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we made no case for him". Isaiah 53: 3
Now we can see things differently. May the peace of God be with you all. Amen.
