Suffering Well
Are you suffering well?
“I have never thought that a Christian would be free of suffering. For our Lord suffered. And I come to believe that He suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For He knew that there is no life without suffering.” Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton
It began when I committed my life to Jesus.
Up until that time, life had been pretty good. I grew up in a middle-class home in the suburbs. Mom and Dad stayed married to each other. While growing up, I never attended a funeral or knew anyone who was sick with cancer, heart disease, kidney failure, or mental illness. Life wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t wretched either. It was just kinda normal. We weren’t a Christian family, so Satan left us alone. Satan didn’t need to attack my family; he already had us.
Shortly after committing my life to Christ as an adult, the barrage of incoming missiles began; missiles of infertility, epilepsy, heart issues resulting in my first pacemaker at age 32, dead babies, traumatic brain injuries, and relationship struggles. Unlike modern-day Israel, I didn’t have an Iron Dome. Friends stood on my right and my left, holding up each of my arms to help me prevail in the battles. They spoke truth in my life, constantly pointing me to the promises found in God’s Word. He would never leave me nor forsake me. I do not need to fear, for He is with me. He will keep me in perfect peace if my mind is stayed on Him. I was soon dressed in the full armor of God, prepared to take my stand against the devil’s schemes.
But why would God allow these constant attacks? If He truly loved me, I reasoned, wouldn’t He simply prevent the hardships and let me live a healthy, joy-filled, perfect life? It’s a logical, human thought. But God’s ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. What if trials are for my good? God’s Word shows us many people who endured suffering well.
Moses had a thankless job. Tasked with leading the Israelites out of slavery, you’d think the people would be thankful. Instead, they morphed into the complaining generation. Life in the wilderness was hard! Hunger, manna in the morning, oodles of quail, water from a rock, a golden calf, drinking water with gold, smashed commandments; the list goes on and on. Why 40 years of wandering around in the desert? Punishment for sin? Yes, but God also didn’t want them to settle in the desert; He wanted future generations to inherit the promised land, a land overflowing with milk and honey. What if Moses had said, “Hey, life is good eating this manna. Let’s stop following the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Let’s just permanently set up camp here.” God didn’t want them to be comfortable in the desert; He wanted them in the promised land. In the same way, we don’t need to be comfortable here on earth; God wants us in Heaven. The more I suffer, the more I long for Heaven, my forever home, where there will be no more mourning or crying or pain; the place where I will no longer be a nomad.
In Phillipi, Paul and Silas were flogged and thrown into prison, where their feet were fastened in stocks. At midnight, they sat on the prison floor with raw, open, oozing wounds, bodies broken and sore. Were they crying out in self-pity? No. Paul and Silas were singing hymns and praying to God. The other prisoners heard. The jailer heard. Our reaction amid suffering exposes Christ to the world. As you suffer well, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, others watching will know that a mere human cannot endure such hardship without being crushed. Your supernatural strength will be revealed, and those watching you, like the Philippian jailer, will cry out, “What must I do to be saved?”
Nobody is immune to suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ response was prayer. As He prepared to take the weight of the world on His shoulders, He was deeply grieved to the point of death. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And again, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:39, 26:42) God had a purpose in the suffering of Jesus. Part of that purpose was the salvation of everyone who believes in Jesus.
As each day brings its hardships and challenges, I can choose to wallow in self-pity or trust in God’s good and perfect plan. Suffering forces me to my knees. Suffering refines me, making me look more like Jesus. Suffering illuminates ‘normal’ times, making them shine in my life as ‘blessed’ times, allowing me to live a thankful life. Although suffering may feel bad, it’s not bad; it’s part of our sanctification. Keeping my eyes set on Jesus, I can breathe.
“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)
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash