Joyful Suffering

Israel – Jordan River

Israel

Hey everybody! I’m glad you have the opportunity to read this next post. I have decided that for this post I am going to launch right into the main content. This post is going to be of a more serious nature, but at the same time, I hope it can be useful, encouraging, and as always that it can give you the reader some thoughts to consider and ponder. Please also make it personal and let it move your heart if you need this message at the point you are at in your life currently.

Joyful Suffering

How many of us like suffering? I know I don’t. Suffering is painful, hard, and sometimes it can leave you in a dark place. Personal suffering can be extremely difficult, but sometimes it is even more painful to see the ones you love in pain whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual pain. Sometimes we ask the questions, “Why am I suffering?” or “How could a good God allow this suffering either in my own life or in a loved one’s life?” Sometimes we ask the questions, but we don’t seem to get the answers. Suffering is pretty inevitable in that it occurs in the life of pretty well every single person. When sin came into the world, suffering came along with it. We often experience the effects of suffering whether we bring them upon ourselves or others bring them upon us. Often, we suffer simply because of the curse and effects of sin in the world. Maybe you are suffering right now. Maybe someone you know and love is suffering right now. How are you going to handle this adversity, this hardship, this suffering? There are different ways that people react to suffering. I want to examine some of these ways below.

Anger: 

Some people who suffer simply get angry. They are angry at others for hurting them. They are angry at themselves for perhaps making some bad decisions that led to the suffering. Perhaps they are angry at God for allowing them to experience the adversity in their lives. Whatever the case, this anger comes from a heart that is hurt and in pain. If not addressed, it can also lead to bitterness which can eat a person up fast.

Depression:

Depression is another way that people may react to suffering. They view their situation and see hopelessness. This may lead them to despair and they may shut others out and close up in their life. The heaviness of the suffering weighs on them tremendously.

Alleviation:

Alcohol, drugs, etc. Some people try to alleviate pain through substance abuse.

Apathy:

There are people who try to block out suffering and try to convince themselves that they don’t care about it. They may look good on the outside as they attempt to suppress the pain, but on the inside there is still hurt, conflict, and pain.

Suicide:

It’s extremely sad, but some people just can’t take the pain and hurt anymore. They take their own lives. It’s a tragedy.

PRIDE:

I want to suggest a common theme with many of the ways people react to suffering mentioned above. The theme is pride. We often think that we don’t deserve suffering. Maybe we think that if we were only better, only did things differently, we wouldn’t be experiencing suffering. Maybe we even try to trick ourselves into thinking that we can handle the suffering on our own and portray a false self-reliance. Actually, the truth is that we deserve suffering, harsh suffering, eternal suffering. The penalty of our sin deserves an eternal fate of suffering. Thankfully, if we accept Jesus as Saviour and believe in Him we don’t have to experience this eternal suffering because He has already paid our sin debt in full. Think about this for a minute. Jesus experienced suffering on the cross for our sins that we can’t even comprehend. He suffered horribly in our place. He understands our suffering. He knows our pain. Think about the anguish He endured. We need to respond to suffering not with pride, but with humility. Through our temporary suffering, we need to depend and rely on the same God who paid for and eliminated our eternal suffering if we place our trust in Him. When we do this, when we depend fully on God and walk through our suffering with Him, then there is another, different, more hopeful response to suffering.

Joy:

Can we have joy in suffering? Yes! First off, we can have joy because no matter how difficult the suffering we experience may seem at the time, if we are saved, then it is only temporary. We have a heavenly future where we will spend eternity with God forever. Consider these lyrics:

And should this life
Bring suffering
Lord, I will remember
What Calvary has bought for me
Both now and forever

Just as a side note, these lyrics are from a song I heard recently. It has quickly become one of my favourite songs. I encourage you strongly, if you are experiencing difficulty in your life, PLEASE listen to it. It’s called, “God You’re So Good”. It’s a great song reminding us that God is good all the time and He can bring healing and make us whole in our lives. We can also have joy because God is with us here in the present. The Holy Spirit lives within believers and we can depend and rely on His strength and power when times are hard. We can also realize that God can use all the suffering we experience in a way that grows and molds us more into the image of Christ. God has a purpose and plan for your life even through times of suffering. Suffering, if we let it, can be a great way through which we learn and grow both personally and in our relationship with God. Consider Job. He suffered tremendously. God allowed it. He knew exactly in His sovereignty what Job needed in his life. Therefore, another reason we can find joy in suffering is because God is sovereign. He knows exactly what is going on in our lives through all the pain and suffering and understands in His perfect wisdom and knowledge exactly what we need. Even the trouble we bring upon ourselves does not surprise God and He can use it for His glory. Suffering is hard, but we can have joy in hard times. I haven’t gone through every single reason, but there are many reasons we can be joyful in suffering if we are humbly depending on God.

Before I close, I want to say something. I have just written a whole passage on joy in suffering. However, I understanding that suffering is still painful, difficult, and can be heart wrenching at times. I have gone through times of suffering in my own life, so I understand. I love people and it pains me to see people suffer. I would like very much for you to consider a couple of things. One, joy in suffering doesn’t mean we don’t cry or experience sorrow. Sometimes we need to let it out and that is healthy. It does mean that we cling to God in hope and can have joy in knowing that He is with us and has a plan through the entire process. Two, we need to be there for each other through suffering. We need to encourage, help, strengthen, and listen to one another in a sensitive and loving manner through the tears and pain. God never intended us to go through life alone. We need to support one another. Don’t leave a person to go it alone in pain. Be there for them!

Bible Verse:

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”  – Psalm 147:3

God brings healing to those who suffer and are broken. However, if we in pride depend on ourselves, we are in deep trouble. We need to humbly seek God in our pain and suffering and He will be with us through it. I can speak from experience. Cling to God in your hard times!

To all those who are suffering right now, I just want to encourage you that God loves you, he knows your situation, and you can depend on Him at all times to work things out according to His perfect plan and purpose. Cling to Him in hope through your tears and pain. I would recommend a book that examines a godly response to suffering. It is called “How to Handle Trouble.” It gives practical steps that are helpful in times of suffering.

Always remember, even in suffering, God is good all the time and all the time God is good!