Thursday, May 27, 2010

Another Use For Suffering

A friend of mine has breast cancer and is about to start chemotherapy in which she will lose her hair.  Ugh.  I just can’t imagine.  But, I get to make her some hats to give her head some decoration and, hopefully, make her feel loved.  One reason I can make these hats is that I’ve learned a lot about knitting in the last few years when I haven’t been able to work because of my headaches.

One use of our suffering is to be able to turn around and help someone else who is suffering.  We were never intended to walk through this life alone.  Jesus is always with us, but He also left us each other.  As members in the body of Christ, it is our pleasure and joy to walk through suffering with each other.  After several years of chronic pain, I can tell someone else with confidence that Jesus is with us in the depths of our pain, in the Emergency Room, in the ICU.  More importantly, I can pray with and for that person.  I will pray that God will heal them, but, more importantly, I’ll pray that God will use their suffering to make them more like Jesus.

So, what about these hats?  They’re just hats.  No big deal, right?  Actually, I remember how loved I felt when I got my prayer shawl that several ladies in my church made.  I knew that they had been praying for me.  I hope that a few hats can convey the same thing to my friend.

And I pray that God can use my suffering to help a few others as they walk their journey of suffering and faith.

No comments: