Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your daughter's pain has become your own, and now you taste that bitterness which the soul can hardly bear. Yet I must tell you what is true, even if it stings for a moment, because a faithful word, however sharp, is a cure. When the body suffers, we would rush to any healing; but the Lord often allows the thorn to remain so that you may learn that His grace is sufficient. You ask for understanding and a clear path, but the road you seek is not a sign you can see with your eyes. It is the way of trust in the dark, where faith alone walks.
Consider the Apostle Paul. Even with a wide door for the gospel opened before him, he found no relief in his spirit because his brother was absent, and he left that open door behind. He did not demand comfort, nor did he despair when relief did not come. So you also, though bewildered, must not abandon your post of prayer. Your daughter’s suffering has made you feel dull and confused, but it is precisely such trouble that the Lord uses to brace your soul and give wings to your thoughts, if only you will not despise the discipline.
Do you ask why healing does not come at once? Not everyone receives the gift of healings, but you have been given something greater, the opportunity to stand firm and have your faith refined like gold. The Lord who knows all and has seen the very heart of the Father testifies to what is real, and He sees your tears. Perhaps, like the tree that receives many blows before it falls, you will hear the same truth many times and seem unchanged, only to bring forth a full harvest later. Do not, then, lose heart. The silence you feel now is not rejection; it is the medicine doing its hidden work.
Cry out for mercy, but do not command the Lord to follow your will. Offer your daughter into His hands, and say from your heart, “Though there is no relief now, yet I will not let go.” In this way, even your pain can become a sweet offering. The way you cannot see will open little by little, and the true healing, the healing of your soul and hers, will be granted in God’s time, which is always better than our own.
Consider the Apostle Paul. Even with a wide door for the gospel opened before him, he found no relief in his spirit because his brother was absent, and he left that open door behind. He did not demand comfort, nor did he despair when relief did not come. So you also, though bewildered, must not abandon your post of prayer. Your daughter’s suffering has made you feel dull and confused, but it is precisely such trouble that the Lord uses to brace your soul and give wings to your thoughts, if only you will not despise the discipline.
Do you ask why healing does not come at once? Not everyone receives the gift of healings, but you have been given something greater, the opportunity to stand firm and have your faith refined like gold. The Lord who knows all and has seen the very heart of the Father testifies to what is real, and He sees your tears. Perhaps, like the tree that receives many blows before it falls, you will hear the same truth many times and seem unchanged, only to bring forth a full harvest later. Do not, then, lose heart. The silence you feel now is not rejection; it is the medicine doing its hidden work.
Cry out for mercy, but do not command the Lord to follow your will. Offer your daughter into His hands, and say from your heart, “Though there is no relief now, yet I will not let go.” In this way, even your pain can become a sweet offering. The way you cannot see will open little by little, and the true healing, the healing of your soul and hers, will be granted in God’s time, which is always better than our own.
