Redeeming Hope

Church on Mosel in the Eifel Region of Germany

As I have walked this journey of tumors and cancer, there is an eternal truth which many need to hear in their roughest times; it is this: God is on the side of the one who suffers.
For proof, I offer none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

In our time, looking to Europe, part of that continent is secular and nearly Godless; certainly parts of it are no where near the bastion of Protestant Reforms of a past era.
Yet, in other parts of Europe, religious divides have been one of the root causes of war during my lifetime and even before. 
But even there, God is open for sufferer and is seen through the works of His people.

Looking to Jesus, His response to the hated Samaritans, to the sexually and morally corrupt woman at the well, or even to the Gentile Roman Centurion whose servant was dying- in each case it was marked by compassion and sympathy.
Jesus chose to hurt with those in need, not just to respond and fix their perceived need in the moment. 
And if Jesus wasn't sympathetic and filled with the pain they were experiencing in the tragedies of life, He would not have sought them out.

In each of those scenarios, we can easily see that God did not prevent their pain and suffering; He chose to suffer with us.
God knows how fallen and messed up this world is; He knows we hurt, He knows we're in pain, but God does not choose to prevent that pain.
Rather, God chooses to come alongside us, suffer with us, endure with us and bring us through on the other side stronger than we ever have been before.

God Himself shared in our suffering through Jesus; and it wasn't just His suffering on the Cross but the suffering of being confined to a body, being limited by the world and ultimately, being killed as any man might.
And because God chose to suffer with us, we now have a model as to how God redeems that pain and suffering to make it rise from the ashes into something new and better.
We must always remember, because of who Jesus is, there is always the offer of hope to

restore that which at first seems irredeemably bad.

If you and I were standing at the foot of the Cross outside of Jerusalem on the day Christ died, we may have thought God the Father was powerless because He did not stop the execution.
Even Jesus felt abandoned and forsaken.

If you have ever ministered for any length of time with any person brave enough to let their guard down, then you know and have heard people share similar feelings of confusion, betrayal and helplessness.
And all of these emotions are summed up in one question: 'Does God even care?"
Like you, with the naked eye, I too cannot see the victory in the death on Calvary's Cross; yet, with the eye of faith, I can see beyond the death of Jesus and straight into an Empty Tomb.

The truth of the matter is that God in the person of Jesus, He is in His heavenly home interceding for His people.
As He went away and ascended, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to embody and empower His church.
Maybe you have never thought of this, but God has chosen to indwell in you and take up residence in your heart so that He might make you worthy of His presence and that you might make His presence known on Earth.
Certainly we should continually ask whether or not we have faithfully done anything each day to be worthy of God's presence within us.

Therefore, when a person asks 'Does God care?' or 'Where is God?' when they are hurting; the simple answer is that we need to look inside of ourselves and allow God to come to them through us so that He can minister to them.
You see, time does not heal all wounds; nor does God.

But God does redeem them - and while that may take a while, the Body of Christ has work to do in the present.
You and I are to use our gifts and commit to the long haul of being God's presence in the world for those who are hurting and suffering.

Surely, if the Body of Christ was doing its job in the lives of others when they were hurting, nobody would have to ask where God was because they would be able to see Him through each person that calls Him Lord.

Unlike some televised colleagues of mine in the ministry, I have no idea what the future state will look like; all I know is that He is preparing a new home for His children.
The reason is because the future state is beyond human comprehension.
I do know that in the presence, it is God alone who offers hope in times of suffering and pain.

The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed 23 days before Germany's surrender to the Allies in World War II.
He wrote many things, but one of my favorite things he ever said was that death is a 'supreme festival on the road to freedom.'

If he's wrong, all is lost.
If he's right, all has just began to be redeemed in hope.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.