Posts tagged suffering

To have your sins forgiven; to have the evil that you have done PAID FOR by the blood of Jesus; means that you are RIGHT with God. “Right with God.” That’s what we call being “righteous”. And that means that, no matter what happens, there will be a day when you will live in a Kingdom; in a world; in a universe; that has been made right; made the way it was supposed to be made.

No more suffering. No more death. No more evil. No more being tempted to do the wrong thing and FAILING and doing it over and over and over. No more worry. No more anxiety. No more loneliness. No more heartache. No more loss.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

There are a lot of times when suffering doesn’t make any sense.

	In these instances, we HAVE answers, so long as we ask
        the right questions.  

	In other words, we DO have answers, just not to everything.  

	The question we seem to ask most is “why”. 
        And that, most often, is one that we do not have answer to.

	But if the question is, “Do we have hope?  Do we have comfort?
        What is the solution to this suffering?”

	Well, THAT is a MORE important question.
        And THAT is one that we DO have an answer to.

	The answer, of course, is Jesus.  And his promise that there
        will be a day when sin and death are undone.  And that
        suffering itself will be no more.
        And we will be RAISED UP.  And no matter what assails
        us now, on the day of the resurrection to come;
        on the day Christ returns;
        it will be no more.

	Instead of groping for the “why's”;  or trying to
        console people who are suffering with the “whys”;
        it is wise, (w-i-s-e), to instead
        point them to the HOPE;
        to the answers we do have;  to the things we do know. 
        It is wise to point to Jesus.

Christ takes away the pain of sin by not only taking it from us
but obliterating it so that it is no more. He takes our shame
by healing those whom we have hurt and making us not full
of guilt, but instead by giving us his righteousness.
He takes the scars and pains of loved ones lost and
sooths with an unending peace that passes all
understanding by, simply, raising them from the dead and
making a place where there is no life unlived;
there is no goodbye; there is no separation from those
whom God has given us to love.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

If you ever find yourself in a place of pain and suffering,
and cannot imagine how that could ever end; how your
grief could ever cease; Then simply hear the word
of God that is shared with us by St. Paul. Hear it, and
take heart, and believe it, and know that even if you
cannot see it nor understand
how, that because of Jesus Christ, it is true: 

"the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

In the darkest moments, before the age of endless light,
let that be our hope and source of joy, by the power
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

-LCMS Pastor Aj Neugebauer

Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, bring the touch of Your healing to all who suffer illness, injury, or other necessities. Give patience and trust in Your mercy to all who call on Your name. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Amen.

For I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:28

It is hard to imagine a time without suffering while you are
going through suffering.  It is hard to imagine an immense pain
or grief ever not hurting while you are in the moments of grief
and pain. It is hard for the man struggling to run a race
to think that he will ever see the end.
This is simply the nature of who we are:
temporal beings, frail beings, beings
at the whims, often times, of wicked forces,
even if those forces are ourselves.

That, in and of itself, can make the promises of Christ
often hard to hold onto.How can it be?  How can it be,
with such deep scars we all have from the pain
we have both inflicted and had inflicted upon us,
that this can all be washed away?
How is it that we can blink and, in an instant,
be in a world where not only is there
no sin and pain and death, but all that
there HAS been in the past no longer
assails and hurts us?  How is it that even the memory
of a deep pain will not longer hurt;  that the memory
of a wrong we have done no longer cause
us shame? How is it that the grief at lost loved ones will,
in an instant, be no more?

As always in faith, the answer is Christ.

Christ takes away the pain of sin by not only taking it from us
but obliterating it so that it is no more.  He takes our shame
by healing those whom we have hurt and making us not full
of guilt, but instead by giving us his righteousness.
He takes the scars and pains of loved ones lost and
sooths with an unending peace that passes all
understanding by, simply, raising them from the dead and
making a place where there is no life unlived;
there is no goodbye;  there is no separation from those
whom God has given us to love.

There is just Jesus as our king in a kingdom that knows no end.

So if you ever find yourself in a place of pain and suffering,
and cannot imagine how that could ever end;  how your grief
could ever cease;

Then simply hear the word of God that is shared with us
by St. Paul. Hear it, and take heart, and believe it,
and know that even if you cannot see it nor understand
how, that because of Jesus Christ, it is true:

"the sufferings of this present time are not worth
 comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

In the darkest moments, before the age of endless light,
let that be our hope and source of joy, by the power
of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

-LCMS Pastor Aj Neugebauer

The present sufferings are what surround us now; they are what we FEEL NOW. And because of that, we can fall into despair. We can lose our hope in that kingdom that is SO WONDERFUL and so FULL OF PEACE that it puts this present age’s sufferings to shame. When we need to be reminded, where will we go? We turn to the Lord. We turn to Jesus Christ. We listen to his word.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

Almighty and everlasting God, consolation for the sorrowful and the strength for the weak, may the prayers of those who are in any suffering or distress cry to You and graciously come before You, so that in all their needs they may mark and receive Your help and comfort.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.