Jesus sees our suffering

God is pretty amazing. In this whole process he has been so tender and so merciful.

I am in a Wednesday bible study called Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). This bible study is unlike any other bible study I have ever been in. When they say bible study that is what it is. We aren't going through a book or commentary, we are going verse by verse through the book of John. Wow John is packed full of the wonder of Jesus! It shows Jesus ministering over and over to people like you and me. At any rate, I had been a little slow on my homework for this particular week it was Christmas break after all. I decided that since I didn't know where else to turn in my bible I would go ahead and try my homework to see how far I could get. Little did I know God had words for me. Words to encourage me, words to show his great love for me, and most of all words to give me hope.

This particular week we were studying John 9 which tells the story of a blind man. A man who had been blind from birth.

The first thing that I love about this story is verse 1 which says "As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth." That doesn't seem like that interesting of a verse unless you understand that in the Greek the word 'saw' means a searching look at the blind man. The notes provided by BSF goes on to describe is this way "As though in deep sympathy, Jesus saw into this man's lifelong suffering soul and loneliness, as well as the suffering of spiritual ignorance." Jesus had deep sympathy for this man and his suffering.

Back in those days people believed people suffered for their sins and the disciples--followers of Christ, asked who sinned. This man in the womb or his parents that he would be born blind? Jesus responded in verse 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." This man had lived a life of total blindness, he had no other options but to beg. Assuming he also bought into the idea that his suffering was because of his own guilt imagine the shame he must have felt.

Oh how I can relate to the blind man. You see if you haven't experienced a miscarriage you may not realize the guilt you feel. The questions you ask yourself, the if only's that you play over and over. If only I had known I was pregnant I wouldn't have taken that medicine. Why did I drink so much diet coke? If only I had taken my vitamins every day. The questions are endless. The if only's are hopeless. The answers don't matter and don't change anything. The questions only bring the feeling of more guilt. You begin to wonder if other people think you could have done something different. And at that point the shame enters your mind.

I believe that guilt and shame is one of the root causes for so many women to suffer miscarriage alone. Think about it...if your beloved pet died--would you talk about it? How much more loved is a child regardless of whether that child has been born. Do you only start loving that child the moment they are born? Of course you know the answers to those questions. But my guess is that each person reading this has a friend who they have no idea they have suffered this great loss.

I'm not trying to be critical of the person who chooses to keep a miscarriage to themselves. I'm also not trying to be critical of others who haven't experienced it. I'm just thinking out loud and wondering how we can change these thoughts of guilt and shame. I'm imagining what it would be like if those thoughts and feelings were whisked away with the truth from God's word.

I'm imagining if we responded to people who are hurting the way Jesus did? Not just women who are experiencing miscarriage but anyone who is hurting. How often as Christians do we wonder what secret sin someone is involved in to contribute to their pain? I don't think we think of it exactly in those terms but sadly I think we do it more often than we would admit. Jesus had a searching look where as though in deep sympathy, Jesus saw into this man's suffering soul and loneliness. THEN Jesus healed him AND defended him! That's right not only did Jesus defend him when the disciples asked questions about him. Jesus also sought him out when the Pharisees kicked the guy out of the temple! Jesus found the man after he had been thrown out of the temple and brought the man into a relationship with Him!

Every suffering is a opportunity to know the Lord more intimately. The Lord is seeking you out. He is there to remove all guilt and shame. More next time about our the Lord being our Good Shepherd.