Groaning in Life's Troubles

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:22-28 ESV).

Reading our Scripture for today, you probably couldn’t escape the word groaning. In addition to this passage we also see in Psalm 6 that people are groaning, creation is groaning, and the Holy Spirit is groaning. “Groaning” is a noise that is made when there aren’t any words. In the case of the Holy Spirit these “groaning” are the “deep words” we simply can’t fathom to bring before the Father in our difficult circumstances. It is praying when there are no words to pray with. These groanings are the power of hope when we feel hopeless. Have you ever been there? Trying to pray and yet there are no words? Have you felt as if there simply was no possible way to vocalize the pain you are enduring? Or, have you experienced a time in your life in which you really didn’t feel like praying or feel like God cared? We all experience times when we don’t know how to act, when we don’t know what to say, when we don’t know what to do, and when we don’t know how to pray. The good news is that God has already planned for times like that. The Holy Spirit is there when we don’t know how to act and we don’t know what to say, when we don’t know what to do and we don’t know how to pray. We have a helper who is listening and acting to bring His plan to a joyful conclusion; and it is not just for us but for all creation. Our helper is also a translator whose job description includes taking our groaning and communicating it to God on our behalf. And He has words and resources when we don’t. He will display His presence in our midst to minister to those suffering. He will pray for us Himself. He will summon others to pray for us when there are no words. And that is our hope doing the work of grace in our lives. You may find yourself in such a circumstance today. Even without the words, just begin to pray. God will hear just the right words and answer you.