The purpose is presence … Hannah Navarro

by Hannah Navarro

Life sucks. There is no beating around the bush with that statement. Life is hard. Life is not perfect. Life has pain, struggle, and… death. So yeah, life really does suck. As I sat on my bed, twiddling my thumbs above my keyboard, thinking about how to comfort my friend, whose dad had just been diagnosed with cancer, I was left wondering what would actually be encouraging. I shuffled through the options. I’m so sorry, I will be praying for you! I’m so sorry, I know God can do miracles, he can be healed! I’m so sorry, I wish all this pain would be taken away! I wanted to encourage her, but I knew nothing I could say would make the fear, anger, and denial any less real. In that moment, life really did suck. In that moment, all I could say was, May the Lord be with you. I was hesitant to reassure her that God is a God of miracles. I had no idea if her dad would be healed. I knew God could, but I did not know if it would happen. Then it got me thinking about all the sucky things in life that we all go through, as believers and non-believers. It would be so easy to slap on those comfort phrases of prayer and affirmation, but there is no telling of what will actually happen. Out of everything the Bible says, it never once assures us a perfect, painless life. Rather, John says the opposite. He told us to buckle up and take heart, for in this world, in this life, there will be trouble. In my attempt to comfort my friend, I realized that I could not wish away

the pain and suffering because I did not know how God wanted to use that sucky circumstance. I did not know if this was her “buckle up and take heart” moment. The beauty of this life is seen in the goodness of our God. God uses every circumstance: the ones we can control, and even the ones we cannot. God is so good that even our missteps are used for His glory. *** I have faith God is a healer, but I have even more faith to remember that He is good. He always turns what the enemy meant for evil to good. Yes, I prayed for healing. Yes, I prayed for peace and comfort, but I also prayed that the Lord would be with them through the uncertainty, fear, and suffering. “For this is eternal life, that they know you… that they might become one as we are one” (John 17) ***

“God with us.” Those three simple words that I have heard a million times just became my motto. Seriously about to tattoo “Emmanuel” across my chest. I realized that “God with us” is the solution to every answer. Not only is it the answer to this sucky life, but it is, and has been, the end goal. God, our creator, craves a relationship with us. God wanted to be with us in this life and the life to come. God sent His stainless son to die on a cross so that we would be clean in His sight. So that we could stand in front of the almighty God covered by the blood of Christ… this image is better than it sounds. God knew this, and that is why He sent His son to die on the cross, and later sent His spirit. God wanted to be

with us in this life and in the life to come. God has always wanted a relationship: never religion or rules, but a relationship. The goal was always for us to have eternal life with God. Now, do not think of eternal life as the quantity of time, but the quality of life. God had to defeat death so that we could have new life. Not a life that sucks! But a life of freedom, joy, peace, love, rainbows, and cinnamon rolls!