"Suffering"

Some things I will never know,

And I can’t understand,

Why the Lord allows such suffering,

And all part of His plan.

He does not send us evil,

But it attacks us anyway,

And doesn’t always dissipate,

When we begin to pray.

Some have gotten bitter,

With the way their life has been,

And when you hear their stories,

You understand them then.

Known those who have lost babies,

Or a teenage suicide,

Known those who were prayed over,

But still of sickness died.

And I believe in miracles,

And I have seen them, too,

But I’ve also seen the opposite,

And wondered what to do.

I read that sad, old story,

Of Job and all he lost,

And how he came on through it,

Believed though high the cost.

But Job does not explain it,

It’s still a mystery,

Why evil is rampant,

And with good folks, you see.

Maybe it is harder,

To believe and still have faith,

When you know you’ll have no miracle,

And God wants you to wait.

In the end I choose to trust Him,

With what I don’t understand,

And cast on Him the burden,

And keep the love fire fanned.

I trust Him to be merciful,

I trust Him to bring peace,

I believe He’s present,

From suffering to release.

“We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” (James 5:11, NLT)

The story of Job tells us that a man can suffering through no fault of his own. Job’s friends thought if you lost your good fortune it had to be your fault. This was not the case with Job. Eventually he passed the test and was blessed by God in the end. To James the lesson of Job was that the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. That is what we believe, even when we suffer loss and our hearts are breaking. We may not understand what we are going through or why. But in the end we put our trust in the Lord. We may not have all the answers, but we do have His tenderness and mercy. And that’s what matters most.

Lord, help us receive Your tenderness and mercy, in Jesus’ name.

Photo by J.L. Grief, jlgrief.com. Used by permission. Thanks, J.L., and God bless you.