READING: Genesis 23-24, John 9
Sometimes we suffer and strive for to make God known. Yes, there are many, many times when we wreak havoc upon ourselves. Part of the maturation process is to recognize our own faults, take ownership of the consequences and move forward. But sometimes things happen that are outside our control and we can't simply pinpoint why they occur.
As followers of Jesus, these circumstances may be from the Lord. These sufferings that we endure aren't God's way of punishing us or using us as puppets for experimentation. These are pains and struggles that do so much more and are for our good. How? How can suffering be a good thing? How can a blind man display the works of God? How can death give us life? Financial woes? Family strife? The list goes on, and here are some reasons.
1) Our triumph over the struggles display the works of God. Jesus told us in John 9:3 that the blind man was not blind because of sin, but rather to display the works of God. He was blind for his life's time so that at the fullness of time, Christ would walk through and call unbelievers to him through his healing. Christ healed the blind man, something no one was capable of doing. And in healing his eyes, he performed a sign proving that he was of God. More sinners came to know Christ and the truth through the suffering of one man. How we respond to our suffering and how we let God heal us, in his timing, in the middle of our struggles, can bring sinners to believe in the truths of Jesus.
2) We endure suffering so that by knowing them firsthand, we are able to fully comfort others when they suffer the same trials. This is empathy. Instead of keeping our distance from knowing the bad, we are strengthened in our suffering because we know it will allow us to better minister to others in need. This idea is stated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:3-7. Even better, the comfort we ourselves are given in our time of need is found from God alone. If we take the overflow of that comfort to those in need, we then become ambassadors for the Lord to a broken world.
3) Suffering builds us up as humans, ready and able to navigate the world with full confidence and strength. "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
There are even more reasons and backing of Scripture that solidify the concept that suffering isn't all bad. I encourage you to take a look at the index in your Bible to seek the truth about suffering. In all of our trials, we can remember that Christ himself suffered the same as all of us for the sake of all of us. We can be encouraged in that alone. There is a purpose to our suffering, and we are challenged to grow into better people and help others grow by using our suffering for good.
As followers of Jesus, these circumstances may be from the Lord. These sufferings that we endure aren't God's way of punishing us or using us as puppets for experimentation. These are pains and struggles that do so much more and are for our good. How? How can suffering be a good thing? How can a blind man display the works of God? How can death give us life? Financial woes? Family strife? The list goes on, and here are some reasons.
1) Our triumph over the struggles display the works of God. Jesus told us in John 9:3 that the blind man was not blind because of sin, but rather to display the works of God. He was blind for his life's time so that at the fullness of time, Christ would walk through and call unbelievers to him through his healing. Christ healed the blind man, something no one was capable of doing. And in healing his eyes, he performed a sign proving that he was of God. More sinners came to know Christ and the truth through the suffering of one man. How we respond to our suffering and how we let God heal us, in his timing, in the middle of our struggles, can bring sinners to believe in the truths of Jesus.
2) We endure suffering so that by knowing them firsthand, we are able to fully comfort others when they suffer the same trials. This is empathy. Instead of keeping our distance from knowing the bad, we are strengthened in our suffering because we know it will allow us to better minister to others in need. This idea is stated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:3-7. Even better, the comfort we ourselves are given in our time of need is found from God alone. If we take the overflow of that comfort to those in need, we then become ambassadors for the Lord to a broken world.
3) Suffering builds us up as humans, ready and able to navigate the world with full confidence and strength. "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
There are even more reasons and backing of Scripture that solidify the concept that suffering isn't all bad. I encourage you to take a look at the index in your Bible to seek the truth about suffering. In all of our trials, we can remember that Christ himself suffered the same as all of us for the sake of all of us. We can be encouraged in that alone. There is a purpose to our suffering, and we are challenged to grow into better people and help others grow by using our suffering for good.