The world mourns. After each emotional video of Savannah Guthrie begging for her mother’s life, one can’t help but wonder about the pain she is enduring. As of today, there are no answers to the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. There are no signs of life, and no words of encouragement. Only memories, photos, and family videos keep hope alive, for they recall the love they shared. If you listen, you can hear the painful groan that has arrested the family’s heart and kept them from breathing in any form of relief. 

The 1828 Webster Dictionary defines groaning as: “a deep sound uttered in pain or sorrow.” There is nothing more profound than the groaning uttered in agony. It is earth-shattering. It draws from an emptiness that longs to be filled. Even tears will not relieve a heart that yearns for a resolution to our trials.  

Living in a fallen world can hurt. The daily response to life’s challenges and disappointments can take a toll on our souls. To add to the suffering is sin (our own, and that of others against us), illness, loss, poverty, broken relationships, and failure.

We fall on our faces before God and search for words. But the pain of sorrow stifles our throats, and we lie in silence. Yet God is not unjust; He does not allow us to suffer alone. Romans 8:26-27 says, “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains: “These verses point out that believers are not left to their own resources in their sufferings and groaning. Their state is one of weakness, and the Spirit continually helps them. ‘Helps’ … is a rich word that pictures someone helping another carry a heavy load.”

Note that the Holy Spirit helps bear our suffering, rather than removing it. We always want a quick release. But there is never a guarantee of that. No sudden relief came to Job, Hannah, Joseph, or Paul. Yet they withstood the dilemma without faltering. Their faith remained. With hindsight, we can see that their trial provided a buffering of their spirit and a furthering of God’s work of sanctification in their hearts.

Verse 27 continues, “He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Theologians say that this form of intercession is in our favor. This is another facet of this kind of deep sorrow. Sometimes your desires might not align with God’s plan, much like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. But the Spirit is not unjust. He knows our desires. Better yet, He knows the Father’s plan, which is far more satisfying than we can imagine.

In The Invisible Hand, R. C. Sproul says, “The Holy Spirit is sent to us both by the Father and the Son to assist us in prayer. He aids us in preparing our souls to pray in a proper attitude and to pray according to the Father’s will. The more we seek assistance from the Spirit, the more answers to prayer we see because we are praying within the will of the Father. The Spirit Himself is invisible to our eyes, but His work illumines our minds to the secret things of God.”

Praise God that He is involved in our lives. He is not, as the Deists believe, a god who created us and left us to fend for ourselves. No, God is active in our lives. Not one hair or tear falls without His notice. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for peace and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”

Hope in God, for we shall yet praise Him (Ps. 42:11)!