Watch!
Everyone suffers. Because this is so apparent, because of the proverbial “it can always be worse” scenarios spelled out by well-intentioned others, we learn early on to avoid staring at what has or is hurting us.. We distance ourselves. We “get over it.” We’re not to be self-pitiers for heaven’s sake. We’re not to dwell or count our wounds. But here’s the thing: God does. God not only marks our wounds (Psalm 147:3), God counts our tears (Psalm 56:8).
Why? Why does God “bend the heavens” (Psalm 18:9) and come down to us? Why does God move toward us, especially when we are wounded? Might it be because those wounds open us to see God in ways we otherwise might not?
What if we move toward what has hurt us or is hurting us? What if we do so while training our eyes to search, to watch, to find — what? God’s movement? wisdom of some sort? God himself? — in the midst of it?
Yes, that’s exactly it. We can put ourselves and our suffering under the Juniper and … watch.
In the Christian scriptures, Jesus tells a story about a woman who lost a coin. She lights a lamp and searches every inch of her house until she finds it. The way Jesus tells the story doesn’t imply that she plundered her own home, but that she was persistent, looking in every nook and cranny, intent on finding it.
That’s how we are to watch with our suffering. There is treasure there. God is there. Where? How? Stay long enough. Ask God to show you. Open yourself to receive. Expect to be answered.
Reflection
The Modern English Version of the Bible renders Psalm 18:9 in this way: “He bent the heavens and came down.” As you reflect, ask God to show you how He did just this in your regard.
Prayer
Dear God, we expect you to show up in certain ways, always noticed, always according to the rules and regulations of our particular denomination or belief system. Remind us you are not in any box. Remind us you will find ways to reach us, using whatever you can in our environments to protect, to strengthen, to comfort, to lift. Give us eyes to see, Lord. May we see how we are never alone. Amen.
