God, Suffering, & Baby Sutherland

In the coming weeks I'd like to take a good hard look at suffering - it seems to be something we all experience at some point or another. Sometimes it smacks us like a migraine; at other times its just a constant thrum in the background of everything we do. But no one gets a free ride. Everyone experiences it sooner or later, to some degree or another. And God doesn't shrink from it - instead, he actually speaks of suffering as a gift.

That's a hard word, and I'd like to explore it further...

For now, however, I'd just like to bring you up to speed on suffering in our midst. Some of you already know this, but Ryan and Rachel are expecting. Last week they went for their first ultrasound, and they got an unexpected shock - the child in Rachel's womb has no skull. Which means that it could die at any point. It may also go full term. It most certainly cannot survive past birth unless God intervenes miraculously.

And so I'd like to ask you to pray: for Ryan, for Rachel, but especially for the little child she bears. Scripture tells us that God is in control of everything, even situations like this. It also tells us that he is compassionate and merciful, and that he is certainly capable of saving lives (not just spiritually, but physically as well). So pray for God to intervene if he so pleases, for him to be glorified no matter what, and for Ryan and Rachel as they learn to deal with the gifts of God (both those we like and those we don't).

I think Ryan will post more about this later this week, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up so that you can be praying for them.