God heals our suffering

1 Peter 5:6-11 (NLT)
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. 10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.

These words are from Peter who Jesus said would be the rock of the church. He tells us to keep humble in our ways and give our worries and problems to God. We are also to watch out for temptation which comes from the devil when we are at a low point in life. Peter reminds us we are not alone in our struggles. There are others who are struggling and who have struggled that understand our suffering. Peter says we will suffer, but that in time God will restore, support and strengthen us to a place that is solid.

Gregory Boyle retells the story of a 15-year-old gang member named Rigo. Rigo was getting ready for a special worship service for incarcerated youth when Boyle casually asked if Rigo's father would be coming. The following is a summary of their conversation: "No," he said, "He's a heroin addict and never been in my life. Used to always beat me." Then something snapped inside Rigo as he recalled an image from his childhood. "I think I was in fourth grade," he began, "I came home. Sent home in the middle of the day … . [When I got home] my dad says, 'Why did they send you home?' And cuz my dad always beat me, I said, 'If I tell you, promise you won't hit me?' He just said, 'I'm your father. Course I'm not gonna hit you.' So I told him." Rigo began to cry, and in a moment he started wailing and rocking back and forth. Boyle put his arm around him until he slowly calmed down. When Rigo could finally speak again, he spoke quietly, still in a state of shock: "He beat me with a pipe … with … a pipe." After Rigo composed himself, Boyle asked about his mom. Rigo pointed to a small woman and said, "That's her over there … . There's no one like her." Then Rigo paused and said, "I've been locked up for a year and half. She comes to see me every Sunday. You know how many buses she takes every Sunday [to see me]?" Rigo started sobbing with the same ferocity as before. After catching his breath, he gasped through the sobs, "Seven buses. She takes … seven … buses. Imagine."

Boyle concluded this story with an analogy. God, as revealed in the person of Jesus, loves us like Rigo's mother loved her son—with commitment, steadfastness, and sacrifice. According to Boyle, we have a God "who takes seven buses, just to arrive at us." All throughout Jesus' ministry—his birth on Christmas morning, his meals with sinners, his healing of the sick, his death on the cross for our sins—he showed us the heart of God, the God who will take a long journey of love to find us. [Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart (Free Press, 2010), pp. 26-27]