As we enter into the season of Lent, the Christian church makes every effort to offer this as a time of meditation on the suffering of Christ. And we are also reminded that Jesus didn't promise his disciples then nor us today that he would always deliver us from our difficulties in this life. We are reminded that Jesus himself suffered. Even though he initially asked the Father to spare him the ordeal he knew he must go through, finally, in the end he was willing to accept the will of God and experience all the pain that death on the cross entailed for our benefit.

In Psalm 31, the Psalmist details the ups and downs of life, with which we can readily identify. As he prays for God's help, however, we notice that he petitioned God to save him from physical death, while Jesus transformed the prayer as he committed himself to God in death, praying, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." It was necessary for him to die that we might have life. But the Father was there with him, giving him strength and comfort.

Lately, I have been listening to many of you who are struggling with personal disappointments, pain, illness, even death. Jesus did not promise the disciples that they would not have persecution and hardship, but assured them that God is sufficient to carry them through whatever they must suffer. The spirit of the risen Christ is with us to comfort and sustain, sometimes directly through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and also through the church, the body of Christ.

Be confident of this, Jesus does not leave us stranded at the hospital, by the bed of a loved one or at the graveside of a family member or friend. He is there with us through all that we experience. Jesus asked us to believe in God and also in him and promised to comfort us in every affliction, as his spirit lives among us and dwells within us.

Dr. Quentin Madden

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