I have lost many friends in the last few years to death. Right now I have three close friends who are suffering from terminal illnesses. One of them has a son who will turn 8 in a few months, and his young son is praying that his father will live long enough to see him baptized.
I witness so many sobering, heart-rending circumstances that can bring me to tears as I contemplate the suffering of those I love. I’m certain I’m not alone in that. We all see suffering, or endure it.
I have also seen miracles, and the most improbable of healing through faith. And to the contrary, I have also seen people of deep faith, and clear understanding, for whom there is no relief.
Christ performed healing miracles, and yet for Himself there was no relief. His power was used for the benefit of others, but nothing relieved His pain, even when He cried out asking if it were possible that the cup of suffering be taken from Him. The greatest healer of history was also the one who suffered most.
I’ve returned again and again to pondering and praying about these inconsistencies. Why is one healed and another taken? Why do some suffer with incomprehensible burdens, daily disappointment, and unending disease, while others are delivered? How can God remain unmoved by the pitiful plight of undeserved sorrows?
The Lord explained to me that “some people are taken and not healed because, in the Wisdom of God that person is ready and if left will recede rather than advance, and some are taken because, if left, would interfere with and delay or hinder God’s purposes for others, and some are given to suffer because it gives them the opportunity to develop in Godly attributes they would not otherwise attain. God’s Wisdom is greater than man’s and sees more than can man. But in all matters there is reason and wisdom in how matters of health, life, and death unfold.”
I pressed the Lord and asked if mankind can hold more compassion and empathy for our loved friends’ and family’s suffering than does He. I have come to realize that, in the coming day when death, sickness and pain have passed away, and God will wipe away every tear from every eye, that it will include wiping away God’s own tears from His eyes. For God has not been unmoved by our disappointments, aloof from our broken hearts, and distant from our cries. He has been and is present throughout it all. He understands, cares, and weighs every moment of our plight, and intends to comfort us always. Whether in life or in death. He is intimate and affected.