Finding the Treasures in Suffering

One of the hardest things for me is to watch someone I love suffer. Years ago, my beautiful sister Crystal fought a terrible battle with cancer. It was such a painful time in our family as we watched her suffer and could not prevent the pain.

Not only did I pray for Crystal but I also prayed for my family. I pleaded with the Lord to have mercy on her and on our family. I asked him to take this cup of suffering from Crystal and heal her. He chose to heal her on the other side of eternity.

In the days that followed, I saw the pain in my parent’s eyes as their youngest child slipped from our lives. I watched Crystal’s young son as he tried to make sense of life without the most important person in his life. Feeling lost and alone he closed himself off and all I could do was love and pray for him.  My sister Diane suffered deeply as she faced the death of yet another love one. Diane and Crystal had already lost so much early in life when their birth mother had been tragically killed. I knew Diane felt alone, hurt and angry. Hurting myself, I begged the Lord to give me strength to minister to my family.

We had no idea that we would face the same giant four years later when cancer attacked Daddy. Once again, I prayed for mercy and asked the Lord to intervene and heal him. He chose to heal him on the other side of eternity.

This time I watched my precious mother as she faced the pain of life without Daddy for the first time in over fifty years.

Sometimes life doesn’t make sense. We don’t always understand why the Lord allows pain to come into our lives and into the lives of our love ones. What I have learned is that the Lord never allows us to go through our pain alone. Not only is He with us during our greatest needs but He also sends help through others.

When Daddy was sick, the Lord brought Nancy, a new friend and prayer partner into my life.  Our mutual friend, Sue recognized that Nancy and I shared the same faith in Jesus. She knew that both of our dads had cancer so she thought we could help each other. She had no idea how the Lord was using her.

Nancy and I began a deep friendship as we called each other. We prayed, cried, read scripture to one another and poured our hearts out to the Lord together through the telephone When Nancy’s strength was gone, the Lord used me to strengthen her. When my strength was gone, Nancy was there for me.

Just before Thanksgiving Nancy called to tell me that her dad had passed on and was now with the Lord. We rejoiced that he was with the Lord and thanked the Lord that his suffering had ended. Yet, I knew that Nancy and her Mom were still in pain. As I planned to attend the wake I realized that I didn’t even know what Nancy looked like. She said, “Ginger, you’ll know me when you see me. I’m tall, thin and blond.” As I walked into the wake, I spotted a petite brunette and instantly knew she was Nancy. I walked up to her and said, “Nancy”. We embraced, laughed and cried.  It was only two months later that Nancy was there for me when my dad stepped in the loving arms of Jesus.

Although, still to this day Sue has never accepted the Lord, she was instrumental in bringing Nancy and I together during a time when we needed a friend and prayer partner who would understand our pain. Not only did the Lord comfort us with his Holy Spirit, He understood we needed a friend to walk along beside us during a time of great suffering.

The Lord has not promised us a life without pain and suffering. However He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

As we go through each day, the trivial challenges can seem larger than they really are until our life is interrupted with a pain of deep suffering. It’s during these times we readjust our priorities and realize what is truly important. It is during these times we allow the Holy Spirit to shine His light on our journey of pain. Then we can discover within the silver lining of pain and suffering nuggets of Truth and treasures we would never have known had we not traveled this path.

Ginger O'Neill