I have been asked this question more than once. It’s not hard to feel alone in our suffering. When we are suffering, it is easy to feel as if no one knows or cares how we feel. Sometimes this may be true, sometimes not, but we have the promise of God that He never leaves or forsakes His children.
In Romans 8:15-17, we find that God as the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Christ are all three involved in the suffering of the believer. God the Father is above all, on His throne of grace, not only exerting His sovereignty over our circumstances, but also delivering grace and mercy. The Spirit is constantly speaking reassurance to our hearts and helping us in our prayers, making intercession for us, even when we can’t articulate our pain to God. This is very comforting to know.
Perhaps the greatest manifestation of God’s presence in our suffering is in the person of Christ Himself. We are told that our suffering is with Christ. We share in His sufferings, reproaches, persecutions, etc. But the reverse of this is also true, as we are suffering with Him, He is also suffering with us. He knows what we are feeling, how deeply we feel it, how much it hurts and, more importantly, what we need in that suffering.
Hebrews 4:15 describes Jesus as our high priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Remember that suffering is in the world as a result of the sin curse. While Jesus never committed the first sin, He did take upon Himself the sin burden of the world when He went to the cross. This was not only the penalty of sin, but the pain of it as well. He felt every pain and hurt that sin is capable of causing.
We know that He is now at the right hand of the Father as our high priest, also interceding on our behalf. In that He knows exactly how we feel, He knows exactly what we need. We may suffer greatly on this earth, but we always suffer in grace. The natural product of that is that we will one day share in the glory of Christ.
Suffering can have a way of limiting our awareness of what is going on around us, but God is with us, whether we can see Him or not. Don’t let the depth of your pain limit your faith.
Even when you can’t see God’s hand, you can still trust His heart.