SUFFERER'S MOON

It has been said that people act differently or strange during a full moon. Supposedly the affects have the ability to cause people to do strange things. Whether it is true or not I have no idea.

I do notice though during a full moon that I myself feel more restless and when I’m driving somewhere people just appear to be more reckless. Is that the result of the influence of a full moon? Personally I can’t say for sure.

On a spiritual level the impact of suffering though can often leave its mark on our mood and senses. It can affect us and make us act differently in a way that can be so apparent like with a full moon.

What is difficult about suffering too me is first the uncertainty about how long it will last. Then there is the issue of pain. The need to rid one’s life of stress and other forms of pain can definitely be taxing on the senses as well as one’s faith.

Which leads to the obvious question. How come God can’t either remove such suffering or at least grant us the calm to avoid the emotional reaction of a sufferer’s mood? Is it really necessary for me to become so utterly laid bare emotionally so my worst weakness and dark side becomes so apparent?

On the human side I will confess that I think I would be a far more adequate witness and example of faith if I didn’t have any tendency to panic. Being a pillar instead of some towering emotional monument of Jello would do so much more to inspire.

However I know that isn’t how God works. He grants us the sufferer’s moon experience to test our faith and if we are able to grant us to see the parts of our life that are imperfect. Humbling us is sometimes the most merciful thing the Lord can do for us.

Complicating the whole process I think is the fact that suffering isn’t the same for all of us. We might all experience certain crisis, but some are spared to certain individuals.

It is natural to what to know why. It is natural to question the whole process. Yet I don’t think the answer is as easy or complicated as we make it.

There are those moments of suffering that are the result of choices we make. Others are simply consequences of things that we can’t control such as our genetic legacy.

In reality it doesn’t matter the cause in terms of our experience it. To suffer is to still know the pain and anguish whether it was our fault or something beyond our control.

God’s provision is not to remove the sufferer’s moon, but to give us the strength to endure while we breathe. To trust him in faith doesn’t always mean to pray for deliverance as much as it is to seek his strength. Accepting that is in its own way to see under the dim light of a sufferer’s moon what is really there.