it's not in vain

i was in the IHOP prayer room a few days ago (one of my favorite places on earth) listening to a chorus being sung - "i know it's not in vain, to suffer with You." i had just been talking to a friend about longing, about how God places passions in our hearts that most of the time either take years to be fulfilled or will never be accomplished through us alone. we were talking about human trafficking, my friend's longing to liberate all the slaves right now, and the pain of the realization that she can't. i was thinking of how badly i ache to adopt children and see every Christian couple doing so, and how it hurts to know that i can't do it right now and that not every Christian family will. it wouldn't make sense that the Lord would instill these desires in us and allow them to go unfulfilled for so long, if ever, except for the fact that He Himself longs so. i like to think of my longing as a small slice of His, but a taste of what He feels. longing is painful. i cannot fathom the longing of the Son of God, the one who is most passionate, who sees and knows all but must also wait. the desires within us are pieces of His. if i feel pain, how much must He feel. and so when we long, we are partaking in His longing, fellowshipping in His sufferings. this chorus struck me from a new angle. suffering is not only persecution for the faith or the fires and trials of the Christian walk on the road to perfection. it's also seeing what He sees, desiring what He has called good and righteous, pining for it, and having to wait. i believe longing is intercession. when our hearts yearn deeply for something, that in itself is transformed into prayer arising to the Lord for that thing. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus always lives to makes intercession for those who come to God. i think in large part, His longing is His intercession, and Jesus will get what He asks for. therefore, so will those who long with Him. it's not in vain; it bears fruit; God responds. blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.