Sometimes, we pray: “Lord, please take this pain away from me.” And there is nothing wrong with such a prayer. We are allowed to bring our deepest pain honestly before God.
But sometimes, a more mature prayer may sound like this:
“Lord, I do not understand why this is happening. But I place this very reality into Your hands.”
The prayer is no longer simply: “Lord, make me stop feeling this pain.” but rather: “Lord, stay with me in what I am feeling.” That is a profound difference. St. Paul once pleaded with God to take away the “thorn” in his flesh. Yet God did not promise that his suffering would disappear. Instead, Paul received this assurance:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9)
Christian faith does not promise that we will never suffer. It promises something deeper: We will never have to suffer alone. God does not always remove the storm. Sometimes, God gives us the grace to remain with Him in the storm. And perhaps this is what true trust looks like: not understanding everything, not feeling okay all the time, but being able to say:
“Lord, I do not understand this,
I cannot fix this,
but I trust that You are here.
So I place it in Your hands.
Stay with me in my pain,
give me strength in my weakness,
and teach me to place what I cannot change
into Your loving hands.
When I cannot see the way,
help me trust the One who leads me. Amen.“
With love and prayers,
Little-pencil
Little-pencil 