Today's readings are Job 7.1-21 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Job+7.1-21 ) and John 4.7-26 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=John+4.7-26 ).
I'm going to post this early because I'm expecting a very full day, jam-packed with trials on the 11th. The readings are appropriate!
Job gives us a good picture of ourselves when we are suffering. When we endure pain the days seem amazingly long! When we go to work but feel ill the day seems to drag on. When we are having interpersonal struggles they seem to arise over and over again, never to depart. What of our fears, rational or irrational? Everywhere we turn something seems to be wrong. When we undergo financial difficulty our houses, cars, or health seem to break down, normally at the same time that prices go up and our pay gets cut. There's all sorts of suffering in this life and it is quite a challenge.
What does our Lord think of our suffering? We see Jesus, in the middle of a hot day, in foreign territory, sitting by a well from which he can't get a drink because he has no bucket. It's past lunch time and he has no food. He has been walking all morning. And here comes a woman who has questions for him. She doesn't have lunch for him. And she's a woman. Jewish men don't talk with Samaritans, particularly Samaritan women. Jesus is enduring suffering. His suffering is the same as ours.
What is Jesus' reaction to his suffering? God's grace is sufficient to bear him through any trials he endures. What is his reaction to our suffering? He is touched by it, understands it, cares for us, and will bring us through our times of suffering as well.
Suffering? Jesus cares.
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