Trauma and suffering are two exceptionally heavy words rearing their painful realities day after day in the lives of God’s people. The words of Isaiah remind us that we will not be able to avoid heartache this side of heaven. The essential word God gives us in this verse is “when.” Let that profound truth sink in dear brothers and sisters. Our troubles are not presented here, nor anywhere else in Scripture, as optional.
Anyone who has experienced immense suffering, particularly trauma, knows all too well what those treacherously dark waters and excruciating flames feel like. The depth of emptiness you feel is held in tandem with the unbearable weight of anxiety, fear, and doubt. All of these hold the capacity to paralyze you from the life you once knew. Questions begin to spiral inward and you are unable to cope with everyday life. Yet, in the infinite grace of our Lord, he does not end with telling us troubles will be upon us. His words continue with hope.
The beauty of trauma and suffering is how, if we let them, they expose the reality of our total depravity apart from Christ and realign our hope. Remember in this very moment as you draw your next breath that God is with you. We hear these words so often that we tend to forget the sincerity through which they were originally spoken. We have a Savior who desires to be with us, in the midst of our pain, to show us the true hope of Christ's redemptive work on the cross. With the reverence and healing powers of Scripture we are able to invite the Holy Spirit to penetrate our hearts and wrestle with the sin that holds us all back from drawing near to God.
Trauma and suffering are not a life sentence, nor should we be identified by them. Just like death, suffering is serious, but it is never novel. Therefore, hear the invitation and answer Christ’s call to you right now. Some of you may not feel yourself running to Him, but rather limping, or even crippled and in the need of being carried. Nonetheless, you are not forsaken. You are not defeated. Nor, are you without hope. You are called by name and you are His. Come, just as you are.