When Those We Love Are Suffering

My heart has been heavy this week because several people in my life are suffering. In some cases it is directly due to their own or others actions, and in some it is just the random brokenness of this world we live in. Either way, people I care about are hurting, and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. No matter how many tears I shed (and there have been too many) I can’t take away their pain or fix the circumstances. I cannot mend what is broken, or restore what has been lost.
The only thing I can do is pray. When I wake up, when I go to bed, when the night is long and dark, anytime my grief feels like it is going to consume me, I pray. There are probably some reading here who are better at distancing themselves from other’s pain than I am, and if you are one of them be grateful. If that is the case, you may not understand why prayer is so vital in my life. If I didn’t absolutely know beyond any doubt that I can lay all of our burdens at my Father’s feet, and that He is big enough to handle them, my life would be unbearable. Even when my own life is skipping along merrily, which it is these days, the suffering of others pierces me and forces me to my knees.
God hears our cries, and is with us in our suffering. No matter the depths of our grief, he understands, and sustains us and brings healing to our brokenness. Is 53:4 promises us that “Surely He[Christ] has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment],” (Amplified version)
John 16:33 In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]
May He who has overcome the world fill us all with His peace, even in the midst of our trials and the trials of those we love. Thank you, Lord, for removing the power of this world to harm us!