Asking ‘Who’ In Suffering…

Suffering can feel insufferable. While disability doesn’t always mean 'suffering', many with chronic illnesses—often called hidden disabilities—struggle daily with bodies that don’t function as they wish.

My father has battled severe Crohn’s Disease since my childhood, enduring frequent hospitalizations and constant pain, though few would notice. My wife was four years into her journey with Type 1 Diabetes when we met. As a pastor overseeing disability ministries for nearly a decade, I walked alongside many facing depression, schizophrenia, chronic pain, and other uncontrollable struggles.

Those who are suffering often report feeling isolated, and so they end up regularly asking who is with them… who sees them… who will weep with them as they weep (Romans 12:15)? Surely this is where the people of God can and must step up! But when we step up, we must always remember that we are not the ultimate Who that sufferers should be pointed to!

In Luke 13:10-17 Jesus encounters a woman who has been suffering for eighteen years with what was likely ankylosing spondylitis, a severe spinal arthritis that would have caused pain in her eyes, bowels, back, and joints. After eighteen years of this suffering, the disease would have progressed to a point of severe pain, and yet she continued to make her way to the synagogue to grow in the knowledge of the one Who she trusted saw her suffering, the one Who kept count of her tossings; and put her tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8-11). What she did not anticipate was that on this day she would come face-to-face with the Who she was hoping to simply hear more about. Jesus, the God who weeps (John 11:35), saw her, called her, and laid His hands on her. The God who had counted her tears now wiped them away.

Yet, His healing of this woman was not the final word on suffering. She would age. Her body would still feel the weight of decay. But Jesus’ healing pointed forward to something greater—the day when all suffering will end. The one who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4) went to the cross to free us from the ultimate curse of sin and death. He rose, securing the promise that the bondage to decay will not have the last word (Romans 8:21).

If you suffer, know this: Jesus sees you. He weeps with you. And He has come to end your suffering—not just for a day, but forever. A day is coming when pain, sorrow, and every hidden suffering will be no more. Until then, He walks with you, weeps with you, and holds every tear. He is Who is with us, sees us, and will weep with us.