Make it Make Sense

What to do with suffering?

Some say it brings the sufferer closer to God.

Some give a scientific reason for it.

Some blame the sufferer; the sufferer must have not eaten enough fruits and veggies during their lifetime.

Some blame generational trauma; others say it’s God’s wrath. Some say it’s God’s will, that he allows suffering so that the sufferer will draw closer to Him.

As I sit here in front of my computer screen on this gloriously sunny April day, with a bright blue cloudless sky outside my window, I struggle to find an answer for suffering.

Why do people suffer horrible diseases of both the body and mind?

Of course, there are biochemical reasons, as well as societal/economic reasons. Et cetera. Et cetera.

But, I am not sure if knowing the why would change the devastating impact of the pain that suffering inflicts on the sufferer and those who witness the suffering.

Perhaps I am babbling in this post; I just am trying to make sense of these past few months.

Well-meaning friends have sent me Bible verses to comfort me; they have sent me uplifting Christian music videos to let me know I am not alone, to remind me that God is with me.

Truth is, I never have doubted God’s love and protection.

Problem is, perhaps I am the problem, I just don’t get it. I just don’t understand how one minute a person can be healthy and strong and then the next decline to the point that all their energy deserts them.

I have cried. I have pleaded with God for understanding. I have come up empty-handed for the answers.

Maybe there aren’t any answers.

Maybe it just is. Maybe life is just so fragile that eventually it shatters no matter how careful we are with it. Maybe we weren’t designed to last.

In the meantime, I am going to just accept that which I cannot change. I cannot change the trajectory of any of this.

But, I can still step outside in the sunlight and walk along the beautiful river, and be thankful to God for one more minute that I can enjoy this fragile life.

I urge you to be thankful for the beauty of this life, tell those whom you love that they matter to you, share love with abandon, be kind.

Be kind.

And remember that this life is so fleeting and so very fragile.

So very fragile.

Jenny W. Andrews copyright 2024