Articles
Even in Suffering
Life is an obstacle course. We may not all face the same hurdles, but each of us has something that must be gotten around, over, or through.
It helps from time to time to focus our problem-clouded minds on the fundamental fact that our lives in this world are not supposed to be easy. Pain and frustration, illness and disappointment, grief and hardship—all of these are parts of the package we call life. No one can expect to get through a lifetime without experiencing a measure of suffering.
And so we have some choices to make. First, we must choose whether or not we will cash in on our problems. The Scriptures teach repeatedly that we can receive great and lasting benefits through suffering—if we allow ourselves to profit from the experience. Suffering can sharpen our perspective on what is important in this life and what isn’t. Suffering can help us learn to be sympathetic with others who also suffer, enabling us to offer genuine comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Suffering, properly used, can help us grow in ways where we might otherwise remain spiritually stunted (Romans 5:3-5; Hebrews 12:3-13; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7). But if we resist the discipline of suffering and refuse to learn its lessons, then all our suffering is wasted, and are no better for it.
Second, we must choose whether to overcome our problems or be overcome by them. We can either give way to despair or to hope. The Scriptures promise us that God: 1) knows that we suffer, 3) cares that we suffer, and 3) can help us triumph in our sufferings. The resources for victory are abundantly available: the comfort the Scriptures provide, the power of prayer, the intercession of the Holy Spirit, the fellowship of believers—and more.
No Christian needs to be crushed beneath the load. Through Christ, even in suffering, we can “overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 NASB).
