Judie, I need your advice, which is always quite sound and practical. I need to know how one offers up sufferings to God. Do you just say in prayer, "God, I offer up these sufferings to you"? I'm feeling very cheated by life at the moment, and I would, of course, appreciate God's assistance, for which I pray daily. Yet things seem to keep getting more convoluted. What does offering our sufferings to God actually mean? In some ways, it feels like accepting the situation and continuing in our faith that God will assist us. But I'm not sure. Can you offer any words of advice or clarity, and prayers, regarding this situation? God bless you.

Roxanne

My dear friend, Mark Pickup, who is slowly dying from multiple sclerosis, wrote a column on the meaning of suffering, which is on the Internet at http://markpickup.org/2008/10/meaning-of-suffering-christian.html

In his comments he wrote

"The isolation of the sufferer is observable by others, especially his family, and it creates isolation for them too. They feel cut-off from their loved-one’s suffering. And this can be excruciating for them. How many times have you heard someone say, “I wish I could trade spots with him or her,” as they watched a loved one in pain? But they cannot trade spots. This creates a second agonizing emotional exile of the person helplessly observing the sufferer. It is impossible to transfer actual suffering. Loved ones of the sick can confuse the pain of their own internal sorrow and project their own suffering onto their perception of actual sufferer’s agony. The family of the sick or dying loved one can actually perceive agony where none exists or is much less that they perceive."

Mark has been an inspiration to me on many occasions, Roxanne, and I hope this is of help to you.

God be with you.

Judie Brown

COPYRIGHT 2013

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