“I’m real and I show up.”

‘My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.’ (2Cor 12:9)

We all suffer. We get mad about it, don’t we? I have this disability, that disorder, this sickness. I can’t do this or that. I am burdened by this. Some of us resemble Job at times, while others of us are just tired of one thing after another.

Remember what Paul wrote: God “said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection’” (2Corinthians 12:9)?

I don’t like this any more than you do. I want to do it on my own. I want to be free of these things that hurt, disable, weigh me down. And we can complain until we’re blue in the face. We can join those who say it’s ridiculous to believe in God. We can be “practical,” and we can “get real.”

No, thank you.

I’ve tried that. I’ve spent years yelling at God. I’ve walked away from God. But I came back. Why? Because at one of my lowest points, as I was yelling at God, I watched myself get up and accomplish something I should not have been able to accomplish. Oh, you can say it was the adrenaline of anger, but I know better. When it was done, when I considered what had just occurred, a wisdom dawned. I could feel it dawn. It was almost as if God whispered in my ear, “See? See what I can do when we work together? Get a clue: I’m real and I show up.”

I don’t know why we suffer so much, but I’ve learned that answer can wait. We cannot afford to miss what God can and does do in the midst of our suffering.

Be open. Watch. Wait. Don’t miss it.

Reflection

How does suffering clarify our thinking? How might it impact our receptivity, if we allow it to?

Prayer

Oh, God, I get mad at You! I blame You for all this suffering! Help me to move through this doubt, this anger. Help me to barrel through all that stagnant mud and come to the point where I can see You, what You’re doing, what You’re empowering, how You’re equipping me to face and deal with my suffering. You show up. May I show up, too.