You Are Not Alone

Nine years ago last month, my second niece was born. It was a flurry of a birth that ended in an emergency c-section, a four month long hospital stay, and a small, beautiful funeral.

In those heavy days of grief, this Psalm echoed in my mind.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

It was a terribly painful, lonely time. Like any grieving person, I vacillated between anger and depression, and more anger and deeper sadness. No one could say the right thing. No one could possibly understand. I was certain no one had ever loved a niece like I loved this baby girl.

And yet . . . the words of the Psalmist are true:

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

When we are in the midst of suffering, our feelings (and the enemy) tell us that He has abandoned us, that He doesn’t love us, that there is no hope. But feelings aren’t fact and the devil is a liar.

Jesus didn’t sidestep suffering. He didn’t skip over the painful stuff—in relationships or on the cross. He bent low and gave Himself over to it. And in doing so, He gives Himself more fully to us. He understands.

I know this to be true. I have experienced this paradoxical reality of our faith, that Jesus is especially close to us in our suffering. The intimacy I knew with Him during those dark days was not warm and fuzzy. It didn’t bring my niece back. I didn’t stop hurting. But I wasn’t alone in my grief anymore, and that was the beginning of the healing.

Whatever your suffering—whether it be the grief of losing a child to miscarriage or a grandparent at the end of a long life, living with chronic pain or mental illness, or mourning the death of a relationship or a dream—Jesus is close to you.

And just as God redeemed the suffering of Jesus for us, He is able to redeem our suffering here and now.

Take comfort; He is with you. // @thebethdavisClick to tweet

Take time in quiet prayer today and pour out your heart before the Lord. Tell Him all that pains you and invite Him into your suffering. Take comfort; He is with you.

Beth Davis is a lover of Jesus, an aunt to five beautiful humans, and a full time youth minister in Flagstaff, Arizona. She is passionate about winning the hearts of young people for Jesus through discipleship. You can find out more about her here.