Patience in Suffering
February 9, 2024
Faith
February 9, 2024
Faith
Levels of suffering whether physical or not affect us in different ways. There are some who wake up each morning in pain or unable to walk or see. Others that have been maimed in such a dramatic way that their life is transformed overnight. Patience being forced upon them; options out of reach. The real heart wrenching despair that we all pray will never meet us. This type of suffering requires a rootedness in God that only comes with daily devotion to Him. A tithing of time, dedicated to staying alive in faith and dead in self. It’s a lot to ask of anyone, especially when we can barely hang on to well established routines. ‘Free’ time in today’s world, with life seemingly in charge, is elusive. If we want to remain patient in suffering, and devotion to God is the key, how are we supposed to climb that mountain, when time evades us?
By turning the narrative around, taking off the glasses of routine, and finding patience for ourselves first. Suffering has a way of hitting us in the face, shell shocked, lost, and we are unable to find His light. The brain pours chemicals into our bodies and suddenly nothing feels right, any action at all, just out of grasp. We know what we need to do, but we forget that it’s His voice guiding us. We stuff Him down, just below the surface, unable to accept His hand. God is perfect and He knows, just as we know, that we are far from perfect. His perfection, however, requires only one action. Prayer. Bow down on your knees and surrender.
We seek the reassurances of those closest to us; hoping for comfort. Expressing our feelings, becoming vulnerable with others lightens our load, but in the pit of despair our relief is fleeting. Once alone in the silence of our minds, lying down waiting for sleep to overcome us; our sorrows rise. Suffering forces us to go into self. Finding patience while focused on our suffering only prolongs suffering.
To find patience in suffering is to put God first in everything. Not finding ‘free’ time is just asking for a chain around your neck. Time is a human construct. We aren’t on our clock; we are on His clock and that means we are on His time. Our ‘free’ time is tithing time. It’s not ‘free’. A tithing of time, modifying routines to shift your priorities to Him. Our daily routine must include Him without exception. We forget that our spiritual life came before the life of the flesh, and in faith, we will live well beyond this flesh. Earth is a temporary stop on a plane of existence we can’t comprehend.
Having a daily devotion to Christ before suffering finds us is what unlocking the door to patience in suffering looks like. We can’t wait until we are subdued by pain before getting on our knees in praise. To have patience in suffering is to listen in silence for His answers regularly. He will guide us in His word. Go Where Guided is just that, listening to Him always. It’s how I remain tuned into His channel, putting him in first position and keeping Him alive. If I go a day without reading the Bible or writing a prayer, a divide appears. Within moments of awareness, along with an action to his favor, He zooms back into focus.
Being rooted in faith, contrary to popular belief, isn’t all puffy clouds and elation. Devotion to our Lord means doing all the things we don’t want to do, and sometimes devotion to Him ends up on that list. We are selfishly lazy people by nature, and our peers tend to feed that side of us in suffering. It’s like the cow and the buffalo caught in a storm. The cow freaks out and runs in the opposite direction from the storm, not knowing that he is running with the storm. Hours later and exhausted he collapses, and the thunder is still clapping overhead. The buffalo, however, runs head strong into the storm. He realizes that running directly through the suffering is the fastest way to the other side.
We need to be buffalos surrounded by buffalos. The people that drive us to faith, the ones always ready and willing to pray for us. In all of God’s beauty and perfection, relationships through Him, with intention on Him are eternal and bountiful. He orchestrates everything we need all the way down to our friendships. I pray continually to have men put on my path who are lost, seeking or saved. He delivers. I’ve never been surrounded by so many men walking the same, yet unique journey, all lifting one another up. My 3 AM friends. Friends in faith allow you, without judgement, to keep Him alive making Him habitual in conversation.
Ending each night with MMLJ (Mathew, Mark, Luke or John), reading the letters in red, His words, His gift to us. Reminding us that he died for our sins, for our suffering. His Spirit will never leave us unless we allow it to. Having Jesus tell me a story before bed, well that’s just bliss. Giving Him thanks during sorrow and pain releases the power darkness holds over us. His Light will shine, no doubt about it. Sleepless nights, agonizing days, when we are alone, He remains within us; the Great Comforter.
Walking through the valley of suffering can’t be done alone, or with friends and family alone. His grace awaits. Everyone’s journey through the valley is unique. The time it takes to find peace will vary, through faith we won’t be alone. Through the people He puts in our lives and His great comfort we can find patience in suffering, knowing each step of the way His grace is extended beyond measure.
