Static in Cleveland

Cleveland, OH

My father passed away several years ago. 
He had COPD, which I had never heard much about until he was diagnosed; the one memory I carry about that particular condition is the struggle he went through to breathe every time he inhaled and the suffering he must have endured until he passed.
My father never took pain medicine. 
When he died of a heart attack I knew the growing pain and the struggle to stay alive was thankfully and gratefully over.

That's not a pretty image for our minds; yet, what can make this worse or any tragedy worse for the individual Christian is when they experience a death but they have prayed faithfully for a person to be healed.
They prayed rightly.
They believed their loved one would be healed.
And yet, they died.

Often in times of suffering and hurt, we receive conflicting, confusing and sometimes contradicting counsel. 
Sometimes, we as Christians, add more pain to the situation when we're really trying to help.
Some will tell us that if we had more faith, we would not be afflicted.
Others will say that a healing is on the way, just believe.
Still others might say that we must endure because our suffering is the Sovereign will of God.
But I must ask - how in the world do any of these answers help a person in the present while they are enduring their pain?

Back in the old days before high definition and digital networks and radios - some of us remember how it was to have static in the background.
That's what our pain does in our lives.
Pain and Suffering plays in the background of life; it is always there.
We hear it as static.

Some people, even Christians, live with chronic, physical pain; others have the lonely curse of clinical depression.
Others are families who endure suffering - they are hit with the addictions of loved ones who cause all sorts of pain in their lives.
Sometimes even a Christian's child will enter a self-destructive mode; though the parents have done all they know to do.
As unfortunate as it is at times, life happens and we can't always control it - which is why we should strive to trust the One who is in control of all things.

In this world, we experience horrendous murders, abuse of children & elderly, drug induced lives cut short in their prime and people who senselessly die for no apparent reason at the hands of a madman.
How are people supposed to have faith that God will deliver them in their worst time, when you can pick up a newspaper or scan the news websites and see that God hasn't protected everybody; not even those who needed the most protecting?

Many want to have faith, but they see the world or even are in pain themselves, and they simply can't make that step.
In Scripture, we should echo the man who wanted to believe: 'Lord, help my unbelief.'

Over last 18 months or so, I have personally dealt with a lot of pain.
Sometimes it was emotional or mental pain; but mostly it has been physical. 
Now, on this side of it as I approach yet another surgery, I feel some level of pain nearly every day. By the grace of God, I've learned to deal with it.
Pain and suffering at some level is common among us all; when we hurt either physically or emotionally - it's usually a pain that never goes away.
As such, we must learn to deal with it; and it's much better to learn to deal with it by grace than it is to live without grace.

Amid the pain of life, you do wonder what God is doing in the world and why so many are hurting.

In New York, immediately after 9/11, the entire world witnessed a secular city transform in an

9/11 Attack, NYC

instant.
People across the country who rarely have any time whatsoever for God, church or theological questions in their life - in that instant - they thought of little else.
In the most abrupt way, the pain in tragedy causes us to turn our focus where it belongs; on God.



Time has passed and it seems the country has returned to normal.
Some believe that over time we get use to pain and evil; that we stop caring for victims or that we learn to ignore the pain as we would a bag lady on the street.
I don't believe that - I believe that regardless of the cause of pain; we know in our hearts that we must keep on living even as the world around us drastically changes.

When you and I experience a death for example, especially if it is someone close to us, we feel pain. If it is a tragic death, we hurt all the more.
But eventually, we will go to the store, we will learn to return to work with some normalcy, the outside world then begins to take over again and eventually, you and I learn to laugh again.

In December 2012, I was simply thankful to be alive; I had endured one major surgery and a cancerous tumor the size of a softball was removed as well as my adrenal gland.
At that time, in the forefront of my mind was another surgery on the horizon to remove a portion of my lung.

Sandy Hook Elementary

But that December, as I was recovering, it became darker for those of Newtown, Connecticut. It was darker than anything I had experienced. 
If you will remember, that is the place where an elementary school was invaded by a 20-year old lunatic. 
Sandy Hook is the place forever etched in our minds where 20 children and six adult staff members as well as the shooter died senselessly and needlessly.

At the time of that shooting, my situation was dire; but I still hurt for those families.
The great question on the minds of millions was, 'What the heck is wrong with our society and how do we fix it?'

That question still lingers.

I have read, like millions of others, of the proposals to ban firearms, of government conspiracies over the origin of the shooting and of other radical ideas on both extremes.
None of them identify the real problem and all of their answers, as a consequence, supply a wrong answer for society.
The problem isn't a government problem or a gun problem; it is a heart problem. 

In the Spring of 2013, I was privileged to witness the rebirth of nature; an experience that I am pleased to be witnessing once again this year.

Boston Marathon, 2013

But in 2013, while I was rejoicing at the news that I was cancer free; it was darkened and spoiled when two radicals detonated a bomb at the Boston Marathon.

Once again, just like at 9/11 in New York, the Newtown Shooting, or even the Oklahoma City Bombing - we, as a nation and individuals, we were struck again and held our breath awaiting the damage.


Tonight, I am preparing for a week of treatment and surgery at the famed Cleveland Clinic.
Yet, as I write these words, the images of each of those tragedies come back to mind painfully; even as my body hurts - I still hurt and feel compassion for those of those cities and the families effected.
It truly makes you wonder what God is doing in this world and where we are headed as a people and a species.

Well, for me or for you, we must begin where we will end; before God.
We are wounded men and women, physically and mentally; we live in this world, headed toward the One who once created all things.

If there is any hope for the world or for those who are individually enduring this life, while we may be strengthened by one another, our hope, our comfort and our one victory can only begin and be found in God Himself.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.