Suffering comes, and is real

Anyone ever read "Tuesdays with Morrie?" A truly wonderful-sounding human being becomes continually sicker and more physically incapacitated until he finally dies. But his slow deterioration is taken in stride and with positive outlook by him and his family, which inspires his young student and millions more who read about him.

Sounds great, doesn't it? But I read another book which described a situation where someone was sick with kidney stones, and was cowering beneath their sheets, crying and whining the whole time. But the doctor reminded the reader that "suffering comes, and is real" to all individuals - and no matter how each individual handles it, we should always have compassion for those who are sick.

We can't expect everyone who is in pain or in need to be as heroic about it as Morrie. And I'm sure Morrie was not as heroic as he seemed to be in the book his entire life (or death). Several times I've caught myself getting impatient with one individual in particular who's suffering mightily and thinking, why can't they just grin and bear it, or be more positive -thinking negatively can only make it worse. And yet, this is the human condition. We are weak and it saddens me to think that as much as this person professes to have faith in God, it's not helping them much now because I don't see them using it in a real way. I don't know how to describe it better, but I just got this from a friend, and it seems to fit:

"Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which trandscends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philipians 4:3)

I don't feel like this individual is doing this at all. It's like - there's prayer without peace - just prayer to get better, and if little milestones are accomplished, prayers of thanksgiving. And these are important too, but they're not happy at all with what they've got. I mean - shouldn't we just try to trust in God that He will deliver what is needed? And that even the suffering we experience now has a purpose? I know, I know - easier said than done. If they could do this, they deserve to be in the Bible too. But I find it hard to respond to proclamations of guilt over dragging us down with their suffering, or of anguish & frustration, and of things that I think are blatantly unfair to the current caregivers. And as a future caregiver myself (probably not-too-distant future caregiver), I'm really worried about how I will be able to handle it, or even what I need to do.

I guess this is where I need to take my own advice and ask God for help, and trust that He will show me the way. In the meantime - we all continue to suffer in silence and frustration.