“Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (RSV)
“My nanny called in sick today!” a fellow mom grumbled at an open play space. “This couldn't have come at a worse time! My husband is on a business trip and my housekeeper's on vacation!” Her mellow daughter was quietly playing with a doll as my two boys were running around in circles, rowdy and loud as always.
My husband wasn't on a business trip; he was in Texas after asking for a divorce. I'd never had a nanny to help with my children and could only dream of a housekeeper to clean the mess that was waiting for me at home.
The mom continued to complain and all I could do was nod, fighting the urge to scream. What do you know about suffering? I wanted to ask. What do you know about being lonely and tired with no one to help you at all?
Playtime was over. I wrestled my two toddlers into their coats and shoved the double stroller through the snow, praying they'd nap when we got home. They did.
As I sat down for a rare moment of rest, I turned on the television. A commercial showed a mother holding her hungry, dying child. She looked right at me, and I could hear her asking: “What do you know about suffering?” My pain could never compare with hers, just like the grumbling mom's couldn't compare with mine.
God loves each of us and cares about our sadness and frustrations, be they great or little. Each of us has a right to our pain, in whatever measure it comes. I also know, begrudgingly, this applies to the privileged, grumbling mom at the gym. God is there for everyone.
Despite my pain, God, I am thankful for Your love.
