Over the last 7 or 8 months, I have read the posts and listened to beautiful people tell horrible stories about what PTC has done to their lives. Marriages have ended or been strained severley. Children have suffered in many ways. Some children suffer from PTC itself, others suffer because mommy and daddy have PTC. I have read where children suffer because they feel so helpless watching family members suffer. I have also read where children suffer due to the short fuse their parents may have due to PTC. Oh how it hurts me as a parent to know that something small my family did or said caused me to "Blow Up" and lose my temper. Those of us with PTC suffer in many ways also. The physical pain is only the tip of the iceberg. I have read where many have been hurt severely because a family member did not understand or did not believe you were in the grip of the most horrible pain you have ever endured. I have read and know the hurt myself of losing jobs and careers as the direct result of PTC. We are a close family of sufferers that love eachother because of something that none of us asked for. How in the world are we to deal with all of the pain, loss, and suffering? I am happy to say that i think Jesus answered that question for us in
Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
God knew all along how tough things would be here on this Earth. Granted it is tougher on some than others, but it is tough on all of us none the less. Blessed are those who mourn? How are we blessed by all of this suffering? The key is the next part of the verse: "For they shall be comforted". In other words, those that have experienced the most pain in life also have the opportunity to be the most comforted. To paraphrase the verse "Blessed are those who suffer the most because they can be comforted the most". We miss this blessed comfort for many reasons. 1) We feel that God has abandoned us in our pain. 2) We are upset with God because we think he "zapped" us with PTC. 3) We are mad at God and we never talk to those we are mad at.
If you feel that any of these are true I urge you to talk to the Lord about it. You can get as upset as you like when talking to him, he can take it. One man in the Bible named Job got very upset with God , yet God loved him as much as ever. Let God know all of your frustrations. Lay those frustrations out to him one by one. In doing so, you will begin to understand the meaning of "For they shal;l be comforted." You see once we get all of our frustration out in the open before God, it is then when we can say: "Okay Lord, now wrap your loving arms of mercy around me as only you can." When we are hurting, we pursue God wanting and longing for his comfort. God, in turn pursues us with all of his goodness and mercy all of the days of our lives. When PTC has wrecked our lives and our losses are so great, where can we turn but to the Lord? He is waiting to envelop is with his comfort, goodness, and mercy. What a way to live!
Pastor Ken
