What is the solution to suffering?
As a child of white middle-class America, it was not often that I considered what suffering mean outside of the context of my own life. It is not to say that there isn’t suffering in the community that I grew up in, but there are an infinite number of unique experiences of suffering that are shaped by our environment, opportunities, and relationships. And because suffering is unique to every situation, it is impossible to impose our own solution on someone whose situation we do not understand. So how then can we help those who are suffering when we have not experienced suffering in the same way?
It is clear in the Bible that God calls us to care for those in need. In Isaiah 58, God tells us that “if you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday. The Lord will guide you always;” (Isaiah 58:10-11) So when we take care of peoples physical and emotional needs, God promises to bring light to the darkness and to guide us. As Esperanza believes, it is key to look at a person holistically. If we offer the gospel and nothing else, when we have the means to care for them physically, it does not appear that we are living out the gospel. Caring for the immediate physical needs can open doors to the chance for the gospel message to be better received and understood. Not only this, but God commands us to care for the physical needs of those suffering. “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick in prison and you did not look after me’ And they will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” (Matthew 25:41-45) As followers of Christ, God will mold our hearts to have a great burden for those who are suffering. He blesses abundantly with the expectation that those blessing will be shared.
Physical and Spiritual needs are intertwined. This means that in caring for someone from a healthcare standpoint, we cannot forget their spiritual health. It is tempting as a provider to try and fix everything ourselves. We often see lack of improvement in health as a failure on our part. But we are not alone, God has a perfect plan for each life that we encounter, so it would be irrational not to include Him in our patient care and decision making. He offers something that we cannot, that being an eternal freedom from suffering. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) When there is nothing more that we can offer physically, we can rest assured that there is hope because God come to human kind, in our brokenness, and offers a permanent solution to suffering.
-Katy Burton