“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”
-Psalm 119:71
When we think of suffering, we usually think about something we have to endure; something we
persevere through; something we just have to get past. Sure, we believe that suffering produces
character, but it's because we grow tougher by pushing through it, by making it to the other side
where things are brighter, calmer, and more enjoyable. We rarely look at suffering with
gratitude or joy. We certainly don't look at it as a gift, especially when we are in the midst
of turmoil and pain. But, by shifting our perspective, we can find the joy in it.
James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above. The God of all creation in His
infinite wisdom, power, and love has given us all things. Whatever we have, whatever we go
through is a gift given to us by a perfect gift giver. Some of those gifts make it easy to rejoice.
We get our dream job, we marry our best friend, or we give birth to a healthy child. But what
about when things don't go our way? We lose that job. Our marriage starts to crumble. We get a
crushing health diagnosis. It's difficult to find joy in those moments, yet we know
that God is still in them.
Since Adam sinned there is one inevitability in all of life—suffering. Our lives are dictated and
built upon how we handle and how we respond to suffering. We all go through periods of
disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement, and depression. The older we get, the more people
we lose. Our hearts will be broken. The question is not if, but when and how we'll experience suffering.
At our core, we have a desire that digs much deeper than happiness. Happiness is overrated. It's
temporary and fleeting. There is something much more...much deeper. Our spirits crave
completeness, fullness, abundance of life.
If suffering has significance in our Christian lives, then ignoring it means that we can never be everything
that we were created to be. “Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing
of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing.” –James 1:2-4
James opens his letter with an immediate encouragement to be joyful when trials and
suffering are on our doorstep. Don't avoid them, don't hide from them, but rather stand in
the face of them so that you might be made perfect, lacking nothing. Our suffering is a tool to
get us exactly where we need to go. Again, it is a gift. Suffering can strengthen us to be better
spouses, parents, friends, and coaches.
“We rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance
produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because
God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
-Romans 5:3-5
We count it joy. We glory. We delight. In the face of unimaginable suffering, we
rejoice because in those moments, we are closer to Jesus than ever. As He suffered, we suffer,
and if we use these opportunities to seek His face then we will find comfort.
Satan uses our sufferings to try and strip us of our hope and joy. But, it is precisely in
our sufferings where we find all the things that make life worth living. Jesus deeply suffered
for us so that our sufferings might not be in vain. Our sufferings can propel us directly into
His embrace filled with hope, joy, and love.
Perhaps if we shift our perspective from suffering to discipline, it will be easier for us to
understand. Hebrews 12:7 tells us that hardship is discipline. God sees us as sons and daughters.
The most perfect father perfectly disciplining His children with perfect love. Without that
discipline, we would never be who He has created and called us to be.
No matter what we are going through, we can see God’s hand if we just look. He's teaching us
to love deeper, live more sacrificially, give more freely, trust more fully, to walk more
confidently, and to worship Him in all things. And one day, when this life is over, we have the
hope that our suffering will end and we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In that moment, all the suffering, all the pain, all the heartbreak of this life will be infinitely worth it. We will
gaze at the glory and splendor of our Savior forever and ever. For even a moment of His
presence, a lifetime of suffering would be a worthwhile price to pay. But, we get eternity with Him!
Remember, this earthly suffering is temporary. Don’t run from it or pretend it isn’t there. Embrace it and
ask God where He is in all of it, what He wants to teach you, and who He wants you to be through the pain.
In the end, it will all be worth it.
There is hope. There is peace. There is joy. There is love.