The Gift of Suffering

The Gift of Suffering 

Suffering. 

Heartbreak. Disaster. Tragedy. 

Abortion. Rape. Molestation. 

Abandonment. Betrayal. Loss. 

Suicide. Depression. Anxiety. 

Miscarriage. Injuries. Sickness. 

How could any of these possibly be a gift? 

In and of themselves, these things are not a gift. 

What I have just listed, hurts us. Breaks us. Tears us apart.  

However, I would stretch to say that suffering can be a gift from God.

Without suffering of any kind, we would need no Savior. We would need no rescuer.

Why would we need a Divine God to come along side of us, if there was no brokenness?

If life was pain free, we would have no need to reach out. And why would we? 

If we were sufficient in and of ourselves to find comfort or love, why would we seek anything else?

You know, sometimes I question why a good Father would allow any suffering, especially to His Children. I get why we suffer, the fall of man. Adam and Eve. Genesis chapter three.

But why I was abused, had an addiction, struggled with anxiety, depression, etc... 

I will never quite understand.

However, suffering is not for me to question. He is sovereign. 

And I trust that through all the pain of this life, that He is still good. 

I truly hope that you don't see me trying to minimize your life circumstances or pain. I'm not. I am one of that last people to judge you- I have walked a broken, challenging, and pain filled road. And because of the suffering that has taken plan in my life, I am a Christ follow. Listen again. Because of suffering, I am a Christ follower. The reason why I am in a Covenant relationship with Him is because of suffering. Because I was abused, I ran to Him. I chose to accept His gift that He offered me. This, my friends, is how I can safe that suffering can be gift. 

Suffering sucks. It's not easy to walk through. We can either choose to harden our hearts towards Him when suffering occurs, or we can run straight into His arms. And currently, I am suffering. I am in an internal state of suffering that is hard for me to admit to. I'm not sure how I got to this place. To be in this much internal suffering while trying to go about living life joyfully and peacefully as a Child of the King is so hard to do. 

But we have a choice. When suffering occurs, we can either run to the God who can heal and comfort us, or we can harden our hearts towards Him and walk away. And friends, I want to walk away. So badly. I want to give up on Him. However, I know that He is way bigger than my suffering- and that this is only for a season of my life. A friend told me yesterday to read 2 Timothy 2:13 which says, "He remains faithful even when we are faithless." He never changes. 

Remember that you have a choice. When suffering occurs, you can either run to the God who heal your soul, or you can harden your heart and walk away. And friends, I want to walk away. I want to give up on Him. I want to give up on life. But I know, that God is bigger than suffering.

Suffering can be a gift. Read Genesis 50:20, "What man meant for evil, God meant for good, the saving of many lives." Trust that whatever you are going through, no matter how big or small, that God will use it for His ultimate purposes.