Pain and Suffering

Reed was lying on his bed near tears and in pain for a head injury. Just a few hours earlier he was out having fun sledding and snowboarding. But this little guy was not knocked off his feet and we both were pleading to the Lord for healing and help.

Do you ever wonder why we care so much? I was raised with the attitude that, "pain on someone else doesnt bother me". Yet now it does. When did I come to love this little boy so much that I would be willing to take his place? At what point in life did his life become more important than my own? How do we go from being fed up with their behaviour to supreme unconditional love?

Reed kept throwing up and I kept praying to make a wise decision. We took him in to get scanned. In the hospital Reed became the little tough guy and all the pain and suffering of moments before were "not much" and "a little". If I didnt want him to get better I probably would have gotten upset that he was making me look bad. How quickly the focus can change from someone else back to me.

But I realize that Reed was just living in this world. Christ Jesus loves us in our pain and suffering and He came and took our place. He actually died so that we might live. Sure we complain about the living but we would be dead forever if it was not for Him. Yet we, just like Reed, blow off our weakness and pain in the face of this world. This world is built on not being needy, not being in pain or hurting. Somehow if you are invincible, you get the prize. But if you are in need of help, of being saved from your own sin, your a looser.

I have a lot of pride and donot want to be a looser. Yet I am. I am that sick boy lying in bed and in need of a Father to make it right. When I spend an hour or two in silence and thought, I come to know how evil my own heart is and how great a transplant I need. I guess I love Reed when he is hurting so much because that is how I am loved. I am just giving back what I have received. Just like my Father in heaven loves me, so now His love, in tiny drops, flows through me to another person in pain.

Reed is doing great now. He is upstairs waiting for me to cook some potatoes and eggs. In a little while I will probably get mad at him for being a child and doing childish things. But sooner or later he will hurt again and I will once more have the opportunity to love him as I look to care for someone else rather than just live for myself.

Thanks to the Father of the fathers for His love.