Incurable FaithSample

SHARING IN JESUS’S SUFFERINGS

Sometimes the burning of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) feels like a garment of flames grafting itself into my skin. There are times when I no longer seem to know the difference between my­self and my pain. The fires rage until I am almost lost in the heat.

But I am not lost. Jesus is in the fire alongside me saying, “Take courage! Don’t be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). Then he holds me so close to his heart that even the smoke cannot come between us. More than that, He understands the depths of my pain; I see the evidence in His own scarred hands.

Jesus’s life becomes more real to me when His suffering is not just something I ponder but something I experience more deeply because of my own pain. In fact, I never understood what it meant to share in the suffering of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:13) until I experienced unrelenting chronic pain. The lens of my misery sharpened my focus on the ways Jesus suffered for us and with us.

Like Jesus, I plead with God to take this cup from me (Luke 22:42). Since the cup remains, I will trust Him as I sip from it.

One day God will bind it all together: all the pain, all the sorrows, and all the tears along with all of faith’s perseverance, all of hope’s steadfastness, all of love’s faithfulness. He will shake them together in His hands, sift them through fingers of righteousness, and blow away the suffering until nothing remains that is not of Him. Then He will usher me into the life that is truly life. I will give up this crown of pain with these thorns of suffering, just as Jesus did, trading them for the crown of life He promised to those who endure (James 1:12). And I will embrace Him with joy.

Lord, sometimes the agony of pain and illness seems like it will never end. But You promise that there will be an end to all these things; there will be a new beginning, and with it will come complete restoration. Thank You that I can rest in that knowledge today. Give me the perseverance and perspective I need to endure everything that I face today. In Your mighty name, I pray. Amen.