Helpless
There are days when being a parent is the most helpless feeling in the world. When my baby is sick, I wish nothing more than to take his discomfort into my own body to save him from it all. While simultaneously praying I do not also succumb to illness while taking care of him. In the middle of tearful trips to the bathroom and fever-muddled dreams, I prayed for the Lord just to break the fever, soothe his stomach, allow him rest. If Jesus can spit in dirt and bring sight to a blind man, surely my cool compresses and fluid ministrations could heal with the Spirit’s power. Alas, we are still in the throws of this god-forsaken virus today.
There are days when being a pastor is the most helpless feeling in the world. I send cards and deliver meals just like everyone else because I literally have no idea what else to do when some shocking tragedy, loss, or need for medical attention arises. While Holy Spirit fell upon all people, ordination did not grant me special dispensation to answer all of the painful questions of the world. I don’t know why so many people do not walk this earth well into old age. I don’t know why there is still no cure for cancer. I don’t know why all of the horrible “-isms” still exist in this century. I admittedly often throw up my hands and say, “Come, Lord Jesus! Emmanuel, return to walk among us and turn the tides.”
We often liken God to a parent. God is called Father. God is compared to a Mother Hen protecting her brood by Jesus in Matthew at Luke. God came into the world in human form to experience the same suffering as the aching creation. Through Jesus, God deeply understands our pain and suffering, and grieves it with us. I wonder if God felt helpless under the assurance of free will when he expelled Adam and Eve from the garden. Or when the Israelites continued to fall short of true worship. Or when Jesus cried out to him in the garden for the cup to be taken from him. Or upon the final cries, “God why have you forsaken me?”
In truth, I am helpless to much of the world’s turning. And so are you. But I hope we can find ways to trust that God has not, in fact, forsaken us, even in our hardest days. May God strengthen us through the Holy Spirit. May we trust that we do not walk in this life alone. May we hear the words, you are loved, you are loved, you are loved.