Monday Gospel Musings: Empathy through Suffering

 I was praying this morning, thinking about all the people I know who are struggling in pretty big ways right now and wondering about some of the big challenges in my own life. As I prayed though, I heard myself thanking Heavenly Father that Christ was willing to suffer so that He might be able to succor us in our times of need.

It made me pause a minute. 

Christ suffered so that He might more perfectly succor. 

Is that what I think of when I think of suffering?

Do I thank Heavenly Father for the opportunity to learn things that allow me to grow and help those I love?

I mean, it's kind of like the joke about patience right - be careful what you pray for, God might just let you learn it. 

Well, I certainly want to be able to understand and support and love more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, so perhaps a small part of all the suffering that I've experienced is letting me do just that. It certainly makes me think back on some of the previous things I've looked on as trials and how after the fact- the things I've learned through those trials have been some of the foundational points for my being able to serve and help in meaningful ways. 

As usual, God wasn't done with His lesson to me yet. As I began my scripture study, I realized that this week's Come, Follow Me lesson comes from the book of Job in the Old Testament. Certainly, aside from Christ, he has become the quintessential face of what it means to experience suffering. 

 

One exchange particularly caught my attention. Job's wife is telling him that he should just curse God and die. I mean, wow. Job's response sums it up though - "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"

 

If we remember who God is, what He has done for us, and what He wants for each of us - it doesn't take away our suffering, it doesn't make it magically all okay, we're all still going to have moments where it may seem bleak and dark and like He's forgotten us, but it does give us the opportunity to connect with Him and turn it into something good, not only for us, but for those that we love.