Bad Days, Sin, Suffering, and Healings

My dad had a strong faith. During the last five years of his life he was very intentional in how he approached his relationships, creating opportunities to share his faith. Since much of my step-family was unchurched (my dad’s wife’s family), they became his personal mission field. My step-uncle was dating a lady whose son was very sick. My dad poured hours of his time into this young man, which meant that us kids spent hours at the hospital. Since I was only at his house every other weekend, for me to remember the hours spent there meant that I am only scratching the surface of how much time they actually gave this family.

I was in high school at this time and knew that I wanted to be a pastor, but I was still a regular kid who loved playing basketball and wanted to have a girlfriend. Instead, I was sitting in waiting rooms playing games with my brothers and sisters. There were no cell phones so we were forced to come up with our own methods of entertainment. While my dad and stepmom poured into this young man and prayed for him, we waited and observed.

I also remember that the day finally came when he was no longer sick. My family experienced such joy! Through this my dad hoped that this family would come to faith. I don’t think much came of their faith, but I will never really know for sure. I can’t tell you why this boy was healed. I also can’t tell you why this story is one I still remember since my dad has been gone for 15 years. I do know this, in this experience I observed bad days, sin, suffering, and healing.

I can’t tell you why one person suffers versus another, and I don’t try to figure it out. All the theological training in the world will never fully make sense of these situations. Rather than try to understand it, I merely hold onto the truths that come from the Bible: there are bad days and suffering because of sin, but Jesus is the ultimate healer. God created our bodies in the first place, who better to heal them? I know to trust Jesus. He walked a path of suffering so that one day I won’t have to suffer anymore, neither will you.

One important lesson in this week’s reading is that the leaders of the time wanted to figure out why and how Jesus could do the miracles He was doing. They wanted to trap Him in their rules. In the end, they found themselves caught in their own sin – thinking they had all the answers. We will never have all the answers for bad days, sin, suffering, or healing. But, we can learn so much by watching Jesus walk the path of suffering for us this Lenten season.