No one likes to suffer. Sometimes we suffer the consequences of our bad choices. Sometimes we suffer the consequences of someone else’s bad choices. Sometimes suffering is good for us and we learn something we would have otherwise missed. But no matter which way you slice it, suffering isn’t fun.
But suffering does not diminish the goodness of God towards us. Suffering will actually highlight God’s goodness towards us! He’s with us through our suffering and gives us strength and peace for it! Take a look at Job and the apostle Paul. Job in the book of Job suffered greatly in his grief from losing literally everything he had and loved except for his wife, but God showed up and affirmed Job, then doubled what he’d had before. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 wrote about a problem with which he was suffering, finding and sharing that God really shows up when you’re weak.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it in The Cost of Discipleship: “Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship.”
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What You Sign On For
Comfort in the Storm
Trust Without a Miracle