Have you ever been so deeply affected by a tragic situation that you looked up with fear, panic and anger in your heart and said, “God, I have cancer, why don’t you help me?” or “God, can’t you see her suffering, why don’t you do something?” or “Where are you?” I have. I have been so deeply entrenched in situations that seemed to be desperate that I felt at a total loss.
It is the human condition to look at a particular situation with tunnel vision, to concentrate on the immediate events, neither looking to the left nor to the right, all attention is focused on what is happening right now. When we are in the middle of a tragic situation, everything else goes out of focus.
When the situation looks desperate and there doesn’t seem to be an explanation for what is happening, when there doesn’t seem to be a reason that suites what we expect, we tend to allow our emotions to swallow us whole.
Recently I found myself in the midst of what seemed to be an unrelenting emotional assault. My brother, after a long and agonizing illness, passed away, leaving me to comfort his family. My mother was so ill that on three separate occasions the doctors wanted me to ‘call in’ the family. I was pushed to the edge of my emotional cliff.
It was at this time, raw with emotion, immersed in prayer, that I pictured Christ in my mind, hanging there, nailed to a tree, bruised , viciously beaten, torn and tortured, looking up to heaven and saying “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?” I could see the pain and loneliness on His face, tormented by the ones He loved so desperately. I could see the fear and human frailty. I could see the desperation.
I have often wondered why this account of the crucifixion and the account of Jesus praying in the Garden at Gethsemane were included in the Bible. Why was it important to show weakness in the One who is God incarnate?
After a lot of meditation and prayer, I realized that the Bible was showing us how to handle the human side of weakness. In the garden scene, Jesus was under so much pressure that He began to sweat blood. On the cross He felt as though He was all alone and abandoned. For the first time since before the beginning of time, He did not feel the attentive gaze of His Holy Father.
No matter what I may suffer here on earth at the hand of others or at the hand of my enemy, I will never suffer the desperation that Jesus felt. I will never suffer the torment and physical abuse that Jesus suffered. Even though I am confronted with almost too much to bear, Jesus suffered more. And then I consider what He did. In the garden He put God the Father’s will above His will. On the cross, He realized that He was paying the price for the salvation of every man or woman who would accept His gift. He realized that God the Father’s plan was superior to any amount of suffering that would confront Him. His love was sufficient.
When I consider the suffering of Christ, I see that all of my problems put together could not match what Christ did for me. I know that God’s plan is a perfect plan. I do not understand it. I don’t need to understand it. I surrender to His will and I know that no matter what I suffer, He will never leave me nor forsake me. No matter what my situation brings about, no matter how much I suffer (physically or emotionally), I know that the Holy Presence of God is there with me, ready to comfort me. I do not need to do anything more than accept His peace, the Peace that passes all understanding.
