One thing we all share is that we all experience suffering and hardship from time to time. Some experience it more than others; some handle it poorly, some nobly. Despite any of this, we all feel pain, everyone suffers, and everybody hurts. I certainly hope not, but you may be suffering right now. The reason for and degree of suffering should matter little—indeed, we often berate ourselves, because our suffering is comparatively less than we believe another’s to be. I’d ask that you not do this: Please don’t overdramatize your problems and force them upon some poor unsuspecting listener, yet at the same time do not simply dismiss your pain as nothing, in an attempt to convince yourself of your own mental toughness. It’s okay to hurt, it’s okay to admit you are suffering or having a hard time. It certainly isn’t against God that you would be crying out. In fact, because of our frequent suffering, our cries should always be freely expressed to God.
If you are a Christian, or even consider yourself somewhat spiritual, then suffering may very well baffle you: Was not life supposed to get better when I accepted Christ? Or if not, was not God to give me the super-human strength and fortitude to conquer any and all enemies that beset me? Why is life still so painful at times (or most of the time)? Am I not living my faith correctly? Am I being punished for my past, or for my failings at present? Why won’t God answer my prayer and take this suffering away from me? And while we are at it, why do we suffer at all? Wouldn’t a good and just God alleviate the suffering that we feel at the hands of evil?
Oddly enough, it is through this very suffering and hurting (the same through which Satan desires to drag us down into unending despair) that God builds us up into the very image of his Son if we freely allow him to. Consider the following passage that Paul wrote in regards to suffering:
3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and 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.
As incredibly painful as it may be, our suffering produces a degree of endurance within us that we would not have known otherwise. This builds and toughens our character, which then constructs hope. And do not forget, we have been given the Holy Spirit(!) I am not exactly sure what all that entails, but it seems to suggest that we have been given a helper in times of trouble, the very Spirit of God Himself. It is up to us if we wish to accept the guidance and comfort that God's Spirit can provide.
And ask yourself, would you truly be better off as a spiritual being today if you never went through hard times in the past? It’s these very times that ultimately strengthen us, and shape us into who we are! So, as scary and as painful as it may be, we should not live life as one long effort to avoid bad times at all costs (nor should we actively seek out suffering, for suffering’s sake) – we should live boldly, knowing that God uses even this to build us up in Chirst.
Do not forget: God is so much bigger than this, so much greater than even these.
Much more on this in the future: Yet for today, please remember that 1) You are not alone – if you feel alone in your hurt, it is only because you choose to do so; 2) Our church family exists to lift up and encourage one another when we hurt; 3) Despite how painful your ordeal may currently be, God uses even this to strengthen and mature you. As ‘You’ become ‘Christ-in-You,’ it can be a very painful process. Yet in the end, it is worth it. As James reminds us, "Consider it pure joy!"
Cry out to God freely and boldly, and take comfort in your friends!
Mark Wylie
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