Suffering?

My dear sister,

We would never admit it.  We would never admit that sometimes as believers we think we should not suffer.  We think since the Lord, in His mercy, has chosen to open our eyes to the truth of the gospel, the rest of life should be easy, or at least endurable.  God would never allow “bad things” to happen to His chosen children.  And yet suffering comes.

Suffering comes when we least expect it and in ways we are not prepared…otherwise it is not suffering: the loss of a loved one after a battle with an illness or a “random” accident; losing a job because you confessed Christ; or being put in prison for the sake of the gospel in a land where the church hides underground.  I find in my life, it is never the major suffering that really catches me off guard, it is the tiny pebbles that grind my heart to cry to the Lord and ask why!  Why can’t the Lord see that I have had enough, endured enough, trusted enough, and I need the pain to stop!  Even death seems like a respite at some point.

Sister we are not alone in our thinking.  David cries throughout the Psalms with a screaming heart to the Lord to end his suffering, to save his child, and to stop the death screams of his kingdom.  Paul prays to the Lord to end his own thorn in the flesh.  And Jesus sweats blood as He prays in the garden that His Father would take the cup of suffering away from Him.  Why Lord?  Why do your people bear this pain?

The pain comes from the curse of Adam.  When sin entered the world, we no longer were able to experience life apart from pain (Romans 8:20-23a). Yet despite the fact that the world is accursed, we know God is in control of all suffering (Is. 45:7; Amos 3:6; Lam 3:37-38; Eph 1:11; Pro 16:9; 19:21; Matt 10:29; Pro 21:1).  In fact, God promised a Deliverer to break the curse forever and to give the hope of eternal life with no suffering!  Along with this expectant hope, we are also promised that the Lord is with us IN the suffering as well.  He does not leave us to bear the pain alone.  Psalm 23 speaks of how the Lord is with us in the shadow of death and Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing can separate or remove us from the love of God.  What a comfort to know that as believers in Christ, the God of the universe is not surprised by our suffering, He knows our suffering and understands it, is with us through our suffering, and gives us hope of a life without suffering!  Praise Him!

So why do we get suffering at all?  Why not just have us know about it without experiencing it?  Oh sister, how can we know the comfort of Christ without going through suffering?  How can we understand the sweetness of the cross without going there ourselves?  How can we become more like Christ unless we suffer (2 Cor. 4:16-18)?  How can we truly know God in Christ without suffering (Phil. 3:10)?  Can we really trust that the Lord is who He says He is without suffering?  Don’t we create our dearest friends by enduring a trial with them?  Don’t we find out what our heart truly desires when we suffer?  Do we want comfort?  Do we want family?  Do we want our way?  Do we want our schedule?  Do we want control?

Suffering is never easy.  Suffering makes us holy.  Suffering acquaints us with our Lord and drives us to Him.  And that is just where we need to be.

Your sister,

Colleen