Once when I was talking on the phone with a Christian woman who was in the last stages of Lou Gehrig's disease, I found myself groping for words to comfort her. Finally I realized the best thing I could offer was simply the comfort of Jesus, so I sang for her a favorite hymn:
I must tell Jesus all my trials
I cannot bear these burdens alone
In my distress He kindly will help me
He ever loves and cares for His own
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
The problem of suffering is not about some thing but Someone. It follows that the answer must not be some thing but Someone. Besides, answers are for the head. They don't always reach the problem where it hurts - in the gut and in the heart. Jesus reaches us where we hurt.
If someone is struggling through a disease or a divorce or the death of a loved one, point them to the Savior, whether through your testimony, your words of encouragement, a shared memory, a poem, a Scripture passage or a hymn. The answer to our deepest longings when we hurt is...Jesus.
Joni Eareckson Tada, "More Precious Than Silver," November 11 devotional reading
