May 24, 2023

It’s not happened to me often, but that April afternoon last year, the Scriptures came alive to me in a startling, unwelcome manner. Sudden crisis can do strange things to one’s memory, so I cannot tell exactly what I was doing when the call came, other than to say I was visiting Pastor Daniel. At first, it was just a text: “Call me right away!” I did so, only to learn that our son Nathan had been taken by ambulance to Buffalo with a brain bleed. 

I called Willie, who makes most of the arrangements for our trips to Cuba. At the time, Linda and I didn’t know Nate’s condition other than that it was serious. We agreed to wait on a decision till after supper. Willie had other ideas. About an hour later, he called telling me they had arranged an emergency flight home, and that I would be leaving Jovellanos at 4:00 the next morning. In the meantime, I was numb.

I remember leaning on the concrete balustrade surrounding the small courtyard in front of the house, praying, but not finding words. It was then I knew the Biblical meaning of “groaning in the Spirit.” 

We find that term in the Gospel of John when Jesus saw Mary and Martha weeping at the death of their brother Lazarus. They were Jesus’ special friends, and this death touched him deeply.

“Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.” —John 11:33 

St. Paul built on this in his letter to the Roman Christians:

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” —Romans 8:22-23, 26 

Creation groans, we groan, the Holy Spirit groans. All is not as it should be; far from it. This world, and those in it are so far from God’s plan and heart that there aren’t words to describe it, and that alienation is so distressing to God that he too through his Holy Spirit, groans.

Anyone who has been touched by grief, torn by tragedy, or tempted to the breaking point, knows this groaning. It is an inner ache, viscerally sickening, that resists all attempts at comfort and feels destructive to the point of emotional and spiritual anarchy.

Yet there is hope. I play (“attempt to play” would be more accurate) the string or upright bass. When the bow is drawn across the strings, it’s deep, resonant sound is a groaning that can fill an auditorium. It is the groaning that makes the bass sing, and without which there would be no symphony. Your wordless prayers, your sighing and groaning are more than the agony you feel deep in your soul. They are the resonance of God himself, drawing the bow of pain across the strings of your heart. Rest assured; the day is coming when we will hear the full symphony of the tragedy of sin and the  triumph of salvation through the suffering and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.