Sufferings Deceptive Work

“Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom Of God will conquer all these horrors. “ Brennan Manning

There are different degrees and kinds of suffering, and all of us experience suffering at some level. The severity of ones suffering cannot be measured by anyone. Some suffering appears not to be too extreme while the suffering of others puts them in a state where they can barely exist. I have heard individuals tell someone going through a terrible experience, “God will not give you more than you can handle.” How helpful and encouraging is that bit of advice? That statement is simply not true. Those words from the Bible are not referring to the physical and emotional suffering that we encounter. Some people hurt so much that they are not able to function.

There are stops on our life's journey in which our suffering is obvious, like when a family member or a close friend dies. But sometimes, more often than we know, people are hurting and suffering, and no one else has a clue what is going on. Deep inside that person there are, what I call, tears that are constantly flowing. These poor souls have learned to disguise their pain. When they are in the public eye they flash a big smile and seem to be the life of the party. Their job or position in life may dictate such deception. They think they have to be strong for others.

One such position are those who are pastors. Pastors carry great burdens, not only from being the undershepherd of the flock, but also from burdens in their personal lives. Many pastors feel they cannot let anyone see their suffering. I know because i have experienced this personally. I got very good at hiding my feelings. Well, this is where pastors make a huge mistake. They need to seek help because they will reach a point where they will become ineffective.

This is true with any profession. It is true for mothers and fathers and couples. Hiding one's suffering is like having a time bomb inside of us  waiting to go off. There are times when we do not have to smile, or be the life of the party, or be strong. There are times we need to openly cry and let others know that we need help.

How often have you longed for a friend or anyone to put their arms around you and give you a big hug of encouragement and support? If you want those tears deep inside of you to go away, allow yourself to shed tears that all can see. Cry out to others and cry out to God. Most often God answers our prayers for help by giving us someone who will love us and help us in our time of suffering.