SUFFERING
For a long time, Haiti was considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (word on the street is Venezuela just took that title). In a recent study, Port au Prince, Haiti was ranked as the 4th worst place to live. Another recent study shows that Haiti's suffering is the second leading nation in the world.
The mother of one of our precious students died. She was extremely ill due to HIV, and it was too far advanced for medical intervention. His father had died of the same disease. Now, not only is he fatherless, but motherless as well.
The mother of my friend and coworker passed away suddenly. We aren't exactly sure why, but rumor says it was a result of voodoo. She was also the main caretaker for a student.
A friend, staff member, and mother of 3 students got attacked with a broken bottle in the middle of the night by her ex husband. Thankfully, after going to the hospital, she is okay.
A young student is battling sickle-cell anemia, the same condition that took the life of his older brother, who was also a student at our school.
An older student was extremely ill due to malaria, typhoid, and a bacteria disease. He was hospitalized for 16 days, and is currently recovering.
Another student, whose parents have passed away, asked if he could come live in our children's home because his aunt cannot provide for him any longer.
One of our students has been seeking treatment for an unknown illness from a voodoo doctor. He's been there for nearly 3 months and still has yet to fully recover.
Yet, although Haitians are among those who suffer most, suffering is everywhere.
A supporter and long-time family friend just underwent a very sudden quintuple bypass surgery. Thankfully, the surgery went well and he's currently recovering.
One of my dearest friend's college-aged daughter is battling a rare form of uterine cancer. She is in the midst of a long treatment plan, and recently had a hysterectomy for the best chances of getting rid of the cancer. Although unimaginably difficult, because of that surgery, she is currently cancer free.
My dad was recently diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo an invasive surgery. He's currently cancer free, but are unsure what the future holds.
Suffering exits on this side of Heaven, I understand that. In fact, Jesus himself promised that we'd suffer. He never said life would be only filled with sunshine, rainbows, and happiness. It's also filled with natural disasters, illness, and death. And let's face it, suffering sucks.
But thankfully, in the midst of our suffering, we have a Refuge. One who said he'd be with us always and never leave us. One who suffered greatly himself. He was "made perfect through suffering," so that he'd be a "merciful and faithful high priest" (Hebrews 2).
He sees us in our pain. He understands it. He loves us through it.
Paul suffered tremendously for the sake of the gospel (in ways I will most likely never experience myself), and he always managed to cling to and glorify God through it all.
"We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again."
Folks say that God won't give us more than we can handle; I see it differently. We are faced with things beyond what we mere humans can handle so that we might cling to our Refuge and ever-present Help in times of trouble.
So although I may not have any answers or incredible insight, I do have the hope that "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). Jesus said that we will have trouble in this world, but instead of sulking in our misery or trying to figure it all out alone, he encourages us to take heart, for he has already overcome it all (John 16:33).
