Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
The pain you endure is indeed severe, a furnace that tries the soul. Yet remember Job, who sat among the ashes, his body a mass of sores, and no miracle came to remove the torment. What did he possess? A life of unwavering endurance, a tongue that blessed God even in the depths. That very endurance shone before the devil as a greater wonder than any miraculous healing. Say then with him, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." This is not to dismiss your agony, but to kindle a light within it. When the body screams, the soul can still cling to thanksgiving, and that act of will becomes a miracle far surpassing the mere cessation of pain. For what profit would it be to lose the pain but gain a bitter spirit? A miracle of the body, if untempered by humility, can become a snare; but a heart that trusts God in the desolation is a treasure stored in heaven.
Do not despair that the doctors cannot help. He who made the body can restore it with a word, or He can give such strength that the pain becomes bearable and the spirit emerges like gold refined. The absence of a visible miracle is not absence of God. Often He withholds the spectacular to bestow a deeper grace: the ability to endure what seems beyond human strength. That is the miracle worked in the souls of the martyrs, who sang while their flesh was torn. Cry out to Him, pour out your heart at every moment; He is the only physician who never fails. But also seek His face, not only His hand. Ask not solely for removal of the pain, but for the grace to glorify Him in it. A single act of trust in the depths is more precious than a hundred cures. I will indeed join my prayers to yours, pleading for relief, but even more, pleading that you may know the fellowship of His sufferings, and that the peace which surpasses all understanding may guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Do not despair that the doctors cannot help. He who made the body can restore it with a word, or He can give such strength that the pain becomes bearable and the spirit emerges like gold refined. The absence of a visible miracle is not absence of God. Often He withholds the spectacular to bestow a deeper grace: the ability to endure what seems beyond human strength. That is the miracle worked in the souls of the martyrs, who sang while their flesh was torn. Cry out to Him, pour out your heart at every moment; He is the only physician who never fails. But also seek His face, not only His hand. Ask not solely for removal of the pain, but for the grace to glorify Him in it. A single act of trust in the depths is more precious than a hundred cures. I will indeed join my prayers to yours, pleading for relief, but even more, pleading that you may know the fellowship of His sufferings, and that the peace which surpasses all understanding may guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
