My mom has been sketching some little cartoons, lately. This one shows how I feel, but not how I look outwardly, during these 5 years.
I told my mom how it feels sometimes when people remind me of the faith filled woman from Mark 5 who reached out to touch the garment of Jesus.
Jesus is the One I sought when my pain began, He is the One I seek throughout the pain, and He is the One whom I believe in faith will heal me of this particular affliction, in His time, in whatever way He does it.
Sometimes when people, with good intentions, remind me of this story, I think to myself, "Hmm, I feel as though I am hanging onto Jesus." It is not that I have not reached out, or am unwilling to reach out, or that I do not have faith that Jesus can heal me.
Both of these little drawings are about being misunderstood. Maybe you've heard people say to you, "you don't look sick" or "you don't look like you're in pain," and you feel misunderstood. Or maybe people have encouraged you to, "reach out to Jesus" or to, "reach out in true faith," and you feel misunderstood.
When we go through any type of affliction, I believe that it is almost always accompanied by some form of misunderstanding. People will never really know what it is like and yet they want to say something kind, encouraging, or helpful.
We should understand this.
But what we can be encouraged by most of all is that we know that Jesus understands everything we go through and He was the most misunderstood of all.
"He is despised and rejected by people,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised and we did not esteem Him."
Isaiah 53:3
