Do you like to suffer?
If you are alive, breathing, and have a pulse, my guess is that your answer is no.
No one likes to suffer. As the Bible tells us through story after story, it takes a humble person to suffer willingly and with great joy. We get a glimpse of the divine purpose as we read throughout Scripture.
Let's take a look at two places in Scripture where this is crystal clear to us:
𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒿𝑜𝓎, 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝐿𝑒𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓉𝑒, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔.
𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒, 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒻𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽, 𝓌𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒥𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓈 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝓂 𝓌𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒷𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝑜𝒹. 𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝑜, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒; 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇; 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝑒, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒢𝑜𝒹’𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓅𝑜𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓁𝓎 𝒮𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉, 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓈.
If we truly take the time to read through these scriptures and let them penetrate our hearts, suffering can produces peace.
Most people who walk this Earth, myself included, will avoid suffering like the plague. When we see the possibility of suffering on our horizon, we shift gears and run the other way. It is our human nature, and we can't help it!
WHEN suffering comes our way, our initial reaction is to question God's goodness or sometimes even blame Him. Because God is in complete control over everything great, good, wrong, and evil, He must be responsible for my suffering, too, right?
And then the most famous question comes to our nonunderstanding minds:
"If God is so good, why does He let bad things happen?"
I have said it, you have said it, don't deny it :) God can take our honestly.
WHEN suffering comes our way, we may begin to beg, plead and send up mercy cries to God, "God, I'll never do it again if you just take away this suffering." It's like we think and know without a doubt that we are being punished for our sins. We are reminded of verses such as:
"𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓅𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓅𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹."
I want to pause momentarily to point out a noticeable fact of life: It is not a matter of IF we suffer, but WHEN. I also want to point out a Biblical fact: nowhere in the Bible does it say we WON'T suffer in life. In fact, it is Biblical Truth that we WILL suffer in this lifetime, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world, and Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy (see John 16). If you are a born-again believer, never let the world strip you of the JOY that will come when Jesus returns for His Chosen ones. (come on, Lord Jesus, COME!)
I am going through a season of slight suffering right now. I have a nagging and uncomfortable health situation going on. I have good days, and I have days where I am the one begging and pleading with God to take it away.
But I also have choices, though. I can blame it on God.
I can blame it on my past sins (and current), I can blame it on my upbringing, I can blame it on anything that I want to.
But what if I shifted my attention from "why me!" to "WHAT can I learn about God during this season?" "WHAT is God trying to show me or teach me during this season." "Lord, what is Your Divine purpose for this season in my life?" "How can I bring You Glory in my suffering?"
WHAT > WHY
People may think, "Well, Jesus did all the suffering for me, so I shouldn't have to suffer."
X Wrong thinking because Jesus said:
"𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝑒. 𝐻𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓈. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹."
Straight from the mouth of Jesus Himself. Yes, Jesus suffered on our behalf, but He also calls us to follow Him, die to ourselves, and take up our cross daily. See Matthew 16:24-28.
Instead of the victim mentality amid our suffering, we give it a divine purpose for God's Glory.
One of the reasons why we suffer:
WHAT IF we go through trials and sufferings so God can show us His magnificence in a miraculous new way? To grow our faith substantially? To help others?
I believe suffering is actually GOOD for us. Call me crazy. I already know I am 😉.
I look at the life of Jesus, and in His short time here on Earth, He suffered through a lot and in many different ways. To name a few: ridiculed, people spit on Him, tempted by Satan for 40 days straight, death of loved ones, betrayal, falsely accused, public humiliation, sadness, hunger, thirst, abandoned & rejected, mocked, beatings beyond our comprehension, beatings that were inhumane back then and criminal today, nails driven into His blood filled hands and feet, a crown of thorns pushed into His flesh and skull, and so much more.
Pause for a moment. Let that sink deep into your soul and marrow.
Let the fact of these realities sink into your heart that He suffered for you, for me.
If ruminating over those sufferings, He went through doesn't bring you to your knees in tears and awe for our Lord and Savior, well... I will be praying for you.
Our suffering here on Earth will NEVER compare to what Jesus did for us.
His suffering for our freedom.
Don't take that lightly.
His suffering wasn't for nothing, and neither is ours.
Jesus' suffering had a divine purpose that no one at the time knew but God, just like ours.
When we believe in Jesus, we too, accept His suffering. It's Biblical.
𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓁𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓁𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝒾𝓂.
Experiencing the ups and downs of life serves a purpose beyond just our growth and faith. It also enables us to empathize with and support others who are going through tough times. Without our own experiences of suffering, we wouldn't be able to understand and connect with those genuinely struggling. This is why compassion comes from a place of having been there ourselves.
𝒥𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓈 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝓃! 𝒮𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝑒𝓇𝒸𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒢𝑜𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅.
𝐻𝑒𝒷𝓇𝑒𝓌𝓈 𝟦:𝟣𝟧-𝟣𝟨 CEV
The good news is:
Our suffering has a divine purpose.
Our suffering can help others.
We are not alone.
Suffering when we can't see the good & divine purpose is hard.
I get it.
I have been there, am there now, and I know I will be there again. But if we train our brains to refocus our thoughts on the truth of God's Word, we could change our whole perspective. From a victim mentality to divine intervention!
God is Good, even in our suffering.
𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒢𝑜𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒥𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓈 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉. 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝑒𝓇𝒸𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝐹𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉. 𝐻𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝓊𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈. 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓊𝓈. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉. 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒶𝓁𝓋𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃! 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓌𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇.
If you are in a season of suffering, please consider these tips:
Pray continuously and ask God WHAT instead of WHY.
Reach out to the Christian community and request prayer or talk with someone who has been through a similar situation.
Be careful in your accusations toward God.
Know that even in your suffering, God sees you, He cares for you, and it pains Him to see you like this. However, He sees the bigger divine purpose for this season. You can trust Him to have your best interest at heart.
Don't run from God in the season. Run TO Him. Dive into His divine Word and soak up the stories of those who suffered for the God-given divine purpose.
If you are here right now in this season, please reach out for prayer. I would be happy to pray for you! You can do so here.
And remember, our Perfect Father NEVER wastes your suffering.
l learned the “what” to “why” several years ago while walking through the sufferings of trials. Such great wisdom here my friend! ❤️
I’m not thankful that I suffer, but I’m thankful that He uses it!