When Times are Dark

It seems that over the past couple of months many difficulties have come upon the Fellowship at North Brunswick. Many among us have experienced the loss of loved ones, faced problems with jobs, had car troubles, and/or had major physical problems show up. The easy thing to say would be something like, “Keep your chin up, don’t fret the Lord is in control.” But sometimes quick answers are not what we need. Rather we need a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold or someone just to come along side of us and say…nothing.
When we lived in Uganda the possibility of suffering was constant. Armed robberies happened to many of the Missionaries living in Kampala. All of us saw devastation, poverty, terrible injustice and death on every corner. I learned very quickly that simple religious answers were full of holes. How do you tell someone who has seen a loved one’s body broken in a car crash purposely caused by a truckload of soldiers, “Chin up! Everything is okay, God is in control”? Or how do you tell a spouse that everything is okay when thieves have pushed her around with a gun behind her ear threatening to kill her and the family with every breath? You don’t. Rather, you sit and hold each other and cry softly together.
I guess there is a deep communication between friends who have experienced suffering. Sometimes all you can say is a simple, “Sorry.” Both know what is being said because both have been there.
When Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God why have you forsaken me?” I do not believe he was just quoting scripture. I think he was in anguish, feeling utterly alone. When we suffer, when we hit rock bottom and want to cry out the same thing as Jesus did, do we not deep in our heart hope that because of his anguish he can understand ours?
Maybe that understanding is enough to help us carry on no matter what we face.

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