In life the question is not if you are going to suffer but when. I like how Pastor Tim Keller puts it: “Jesus Christ did not suffer so that you would not suffer. He suffered so that when you suffer, you’ll become more like him. The gospel does not promise you better life circumstances; it promises you a better life.”[1]
As a child of Jesus, God uses trials and suffering not to hurt us but to help conform us more into the image of Christ. Desmond Tutu states, what I think all of us know, when he said: “Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.”[2] Christian virtues such as humility, character, patience, and longsuffering are often forged in the crucible of affliction. Helen Keller, who knew more about affliction than most of us will ever experience, understood this principle when she said: “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”[3]
While Jesus died to take the penalty of our sins away, He chose to leave us in our broken and fallen world to use us to bring glory to His name and reach others with the life-changing message of the gospel. I think that apologist Lee Strobel said it best when he shared: “The universe is a soul making machine, and part of that process is learning, maturing, and growing through difficult and challenging and painful experiences. The point of our lives in this world isn’t comfort, but training and preparation for eternity.”[4]
Fortunately, if we are willing to be trained in the school of suffering, many times, God will reveal why He allows us to go through our trial. This can bring great comfort, since we know that God always has a good purpose for the trial He often sends our way. But even when He doesn’t reveal His purpose in our suffering we can still trust His faithfulness toward us. A perfect example is Job. As Tim Keller states: “Job never saw why he suffered, but he saw God, and that was enough.”[5]
I have learned in my Christian walk, that when I am going through a period of suffering, to draw even closer to God and allow His goodness to surround me. I believe, it is in these times of testing, that allows my faith in Jesus to grow stronger. And as I endure the trial, I can bring glory to God and learn valuable lessons in the process; that I could not learn in any other way.
I would like to leave you with three Scriptures that have proven a great source of comfort and encouragement to me when I have to endure a period of suffering:
(Romans 8:18): “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
(2 Corinthians 4:16-17): “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
(Romans 8:28): “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
[1] TOP 25 QUOTES BY TIMOTHY KELLER (of 581) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
[2] TOP 25 SUFFERING QUOTES (of 1000) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
[3] TOP 25 SUFFERING QUOTES (of 1000) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
[4] TOP 25 SUFFERING QUOTES (of 1000) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
[5] TOP 25 SUFFERING QUOTES (of 1000) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)