"His ways are not our ways" is hard to swallow when we are deeply wounded or grieving. She puts a different spin on it, as one who has walked the path of suffering with grace and devotion to a God who never, ever abandoned her.
"Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether. It does not hate tragedy. It never denies reality. It stands in the very teeth of suffering." -Elizabeth Elliot
Suffering hurts. Grief feels so lonely, although it helps to share it with other mourners. Our Lord grieved (think of John the Baptist and Lazarus), and he didn't always rescue loved ones from earthly death, as he did Lazarus. He submitted to the sovereign will of the Father as a human in the Garden of Gethsemane and changed everything for us.
I've often wondered if Jesus wept over Lazarus, knowing not that he died...but that he was calling him back from Heaven's glory to walk the earth once again. A heaven that Jesus would soon return to inhabit. Wouldn't it have been sweet for him to have Lazarus, John the Baptist and Stephen together? I know he wept for the hurt and disappointment Mary and Martha felt over his delay in coming to save the day. He had disappointed them, but there was a bigger picture and a plan. We know he cried and hurt.
Our faith does not promise exemption from suffering, but it does promise comfort and peace. His calm is not our calm. That I am sure of. It transcends something human because it is a supernatural peace. Our faith promises us we are never alone. Never. Jesus offered these words after the resurrection and not long before he returned to heaven.
"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20
"I am with you." It might be one of my favorite sentences in the Bible. It is the thing that makes life in a relationship with Jesus different than doing life as alone or even as a "God fan". Knowing him is the difference. In knowing Him, he stands with us in the very teeth of suffering as one who as been there. He can love our broken mess, because he has walked the path of suffering. He gets us. That is why He is our advocate before the Father. He understands.
Elizabeth Elliot raised her children amongst the same people who murdered her missionary husband, James Elliot, before the were ready to hear the gospel. Yet, his death and the other four men who gave their lives that day was not in vain. Elizabeth let Jesus heal her wounds and she persisted until the people opened their hearts to the gospel. Those very people became her family. The very ones who took her husband's life became her intimate friends. One of them, her children called "Grandfather".
That my friends, is love with teeth. It is the hope of the gospel. It is the healing that only a great God can bring to our lives.
Today, I am grateful for a love that stands in the very teeth of suffering.
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