Tidings of great comfort and joy

Why haven't I written on my blog for so long? The first reason, I guess, is that nothing much interesting is happening right now. Contrary to popular belief, I don't always have an exciting adventurous life. For example, the last few weeks have been variations on a theme of work with crazy patients, study by myself and feel like I'm a crazy patient, hang out with my family and realize they're crazy to be patient with me. Actually they're wonderful the way they're patient with me.... I am going a little psychotic these days.
Which is the other reason I have been avoiding blogging is that I don't want Happy Heather's Hullaballoo to be an emotional whinefest, because the purpose of my writing is to encourage all my readers, and honestly, what is so encouraging about reading how I'm falling apart? But the truth is, I sort of am.
This morning I sat in bed and was reading in the bible- The apostle Paul tells the church in Corinth that he has been having a tough time in Asia- actually, “(We) were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.”
Wow, that doesn't sound like Happy Heather's Hullaballoo at all. But it's true, isn't it? And I know deep inside that I'm not the only one feeling that way. I don't think the normal experience of life is always to be slogging through a never-ending pit of hardship- but certainly there are mountains and valleys in life and everyone has to go through some valleys. My struggles as a medical student are real and grueling, but so are the struggles of other people I know who are going through equally difficult things. Plummeting economy and the prospect of losing your job. The day to day pressure of looking after a disabled kid. Getting your heart broken just one more time. Stuck in a difficult marriage. Everyone has struggles, right?
The first chapter of 2 Corinthians strikes a chord deep inside. (Especially cause Paul repeats the same word a million times. See if you can pick up on it.)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”
Did you see the word comfort again and again? Does it remind you of a soft feather quilt wrapped around you and a cup of tea and your mom patting your hair as you drift off to sleep? What does all this comfort have to do with suffering?
We're sharing our sufferings. Not one of us is alone in them. If you think you're alone, I challenge you to phone up a friend, any friend, and ask if they've gone through any hard things that week. (Hint: try calling my sister-in-law Yvonne...she had a baby yesterday)
Are we also sharing in our comfort? What is that comfort? Read 2 Corinthians 1... here are a couple that stood out to me.
“Jesus Christ... was not 'yes' and 'no', but in him it has always been 'YES'. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'YES' in Christ.”
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.”
Can you understand that? God's promises WILL come true. It is him who is responsible for keeping us together. I don't have to worry that I'm going crazy and that I won't make it and that someone is going to have to scrape me off the sidewalk and check me into a mental hospital. Although for the record, if I do end up there, please send me a good looking doctor.