SOME THOUGHTS ON SUFFERING—THE UNWANTED GIFT OF GOD

[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

No pain, no gain. Without suffering consequences, we do not change and grow into Christ-likeness, but how? We need to be humbled by suffering in order to trust in God’s Word:

•    Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

We are like a glass of putrid water. It first needs be emptied before it can be filled with the water of God’s Word—an ongoing process. Otherwise, the Word will appear unnecessary.

We seek to trust in ourselves instead of in God. Paul had to be weaned from self-trust unto God-trust through experiencing pain with which he was unable to cope:

•    “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Death and disability are ever present threats, but these realities are necessary to teach us wisdom:

•    So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Death too is a gift. It teaches us wisdom. Suffering also prepares us for eternity:

•    So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Suffering creates community and brotherhood, while self-sufficiency destroys it. Baboons need community to raise and protect their children. They bond through grooming one another of the bothersome ticks and mites. We too bond through our brokenness – first to God and then to one-another:

•    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Corinthians 1:3–5)

Although I have followed Jesus for 48 years, it has only been during the last few years that I have experienced His comfort and deliverance in profound ways. This has enabled me to accept suffering, as I would a thunderstorm, knowing the good that will follow and the rainbow highlighting its departure. If we are willing to endure surgery, why not other forms of suffering!