Beauty In The Beast: How To Suffer WellSample

We heal better in community

Who you have around you during your period of suffering can either help you to suffer 'well', or to despair. 

The default position, when faced with suffering and shame, is to hide and isolate ourselves from others. 

'Open wounds are prone to infection.' Yes, but they are also accessible to healing through the ‘plaster’, ‘dressing’, or ‘covering’ of fellowship, community and prayer! Love can only cover what you expose.

Dr. Luke's account of Jesus' healing of the paralysed man and the role of his faith-filled friends reveals the importance of the community in our suffering. 

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”  (Luke 5: 18-20)

When you are suffering, in deep physical or emotional pain, you need a community that is willing to do for you what the friends of the paralyzed man did for him. 

You also need to be vulnerable and open about your needs and be willing to receive help. If this man had rejected the assistance of his friends, due to embarrassment, pride or not wanting to be a burden, he would have missed out on this beautiful opportunity to encounter Jesus, be forgiven and be healed. Healing starts with vulnerability. 

As we break down Luke 5:18-20, we see that our God-given community can be instruments of healing in many ways: 

• Your community will carry you physically and spiritually. (‘some men came      carrying’)
• Your community will push you towards Jesus no matter the cost. (‘they went up      to the roof’)
• Your community will remove any obstacles that are blocking your access to      Jesus. (‘removed some tiles’)
• Your community will love you with faith and prayer so that even when your faith is weak, their united faith concerning you remains strong and visible! (‘seeing      their faith’)