When we are brought low by the difficulties of life, large
or small, what does it take for us to feel the hand of Jesus, reaching out to
help us up?
The prophet Job, a righteous man, suffers – his possessions
are destroyed, he is smitten with boils, his children die – and yet, through it
all, though he voices his pain, Job never renounces God, and, in the end, all
is restored to him – family, livestock, and health.
Simon’s mother-in-law is also brought low by illness, but
Jesus’ arrival restores her to health: He approached, grasped her hand, and helped
her up. Her response? She
waited on them.
Suffering is a part of life, and God’s response to our
difficulties might not always be the one we pray for. Yet God is with us throughout our trials, and
we are all graced, again and again, freed from our hardships, so that we might
have the opportunity to participate in the grace that is our experience of God’s presence, real
and continuous.
As the psalmist reminds us, The Lord sustains the lowly. When we need to be lifted from the difficulties of life, it is then, most importantly, that we also need to be open to God’s presence in our lives, to the hand of Jesus, stretched out to us, ready to help us up.
(Christ Healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law, Church of
St. Savior, Choram Istanbul, c.1310)
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