I went to see some doctors for a cure but the more they anointed my eyes with various salves, the worse the cataracts became, until I could see no more. For four years I was deprived of eyesight, and . . . my wife Anna worked for hire. // Tobit 2:10-11
Laughter floated up to the room where I lay in bed, jabbing a needle through my embroidery. My husband and kids were spending some much-needed time together—and clearly having loads of fun without me, I grumbled internally.
Stabbing the needle through the fabric again, I suddenly caught myself. When was the last time I’d offered my suffering for them? Aside from a rushed morning offering, I hadn’t allowed the Lord into a single moment of my present difficulty. I had acknowledged the weight of it, certainly. But instead of asking God to help me lift that weight and strengthen me in love, I had let it drag me down into resentful self-pity.
My heart shifted, and I silently invited the Lord to use my suffering for good. The physical pain remained, but peace and consolation quickly flooded the space where indignation and bitterness had reigned.
Through many years of physical suffering, the Lord has taught me some extremely valuable truths; truths that Tobit and his wife also discovered as his prolonged suffering took its toll (see Tobit 2:9-14).
Suffering can either harden or soften us. It can make us bitter, or it can help us to love better.
None of us will escape suffering in this fallen world—but with God’s help, we can allow it to spiritually transform us, not tyrannize us. Love Himself entered into suffering so that through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, suffering could be emptied of its eternally destructive power and infused with redemptive, saving power. Any suffering that the enemy has devised for our ruin, God can instead work for our own redemption and others’ salvation—if we but let Him.
With Jesus, every encounter with suffering becomes an opportunity to love like Him. With Jesus, our cross will sanctify us in this life, and become the ultimate doorway to the glory of eternal life—where we will never suffer again.
Until that day, let us pray: Jesus, help me to join every moment of my suffering to Your Cross. Grant me Your divine strength and peace in suffering. Redeem it all for my good and for others’ salvation. Amen.
Megan Hjelmstad (“Helm-stead”) is a wife, enthusiastic hockey mom, and Army Veteran living in Denver, CO. After serving fifteen years in the United States Army, Megan now serves the Church as an author, speaker, and women's mentor in her “spare” time. Megan loves to share God’s hope in suffering and is the author of Offer it Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Redemptive Suffering. She’s a long-time team member of Blessed is She and a writer and speaker for several other ministries. Megan adores books, sleep, sunshine, and Colorado’s great outdoors almost as much as she adores Jesus in the Eucharist. Learn more at MeganHjelmstad.com.
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