There have been times when I've thought that suffering = sin. Maybe you've been there too –– you're enduring some sort of physical, emotional, or spiritual hardship and it feels like the only thing to do is to start snipping away at things in your life that could be the root cause for your pain.
Sometimes this trimming is necessary; for in paring away those things which make us anxious, envious, angry, prideful––you name it, life starts to feel a bit lighter. But what about the times when suffering makes no sense?
Jesus suffered and yet he did not sin. In fact, the author of Hebrews tells us that God made Jesus "perfect through suffering" (Hebrews 2:10-18). And then the author goes on to say that we who suffer are of the same family as Jesus. Huh??
Suffering is bewildering. In one of the most intriguing short stories I've ever read, hope amidst great suffering occurs at the moment that a well-to-do grandmother recognizes kinship with the man who will soon murder her. In her eyes, he is one of her children, and together they share in suffering.
Jesus shared in our humanity; in flesh he too encountered suffering because he cared (and continues to care) for humanity as a brother would his brother, or as a parent would their child.
Today I'm praying that as God knows our weakness, so also may we know God's power to save, to bring good news of relief from our suffering.
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