Prepare for Suffering?
“A faith that leaves us unprepared for suffering is a false faith that deserves to be lost. Suffering will come; we owe it to God, ourselves, and those around us to prepare for it.”
–Randy Alcorn, If God is Good
We live in a world where suffering is not only present, but at times abounds. The tragedies of mass shootings, extreme poverty, human trafficking, rampant disease, and so much more–we have to know the hope in which we trust. Burying our heads in the sand while looking for kindly Grandpa God isn’t going to cut it. If our faith doesn’t have room for our God the Comforter, we will become lost. He doesn’t choose the suffering, but others may choose it for us through their own decisions or actions. What do will we do?
This is one of my favorite verses and reveals that there can be meaning in the suffering if we choose to trust Him through it.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. –2 Corinthians 1:3-4
What is your response to those who say suffering denies God? How do you prepare yourself to deal with your own or others’ suffering?
Whispers and Shouts #26.
…a short burst of inspiration of what God is speaking to me, a prayer, a quote, a song, or whatever else.
In my deepest suffering God has been there. He has gently helped me to my knees and then back up again.
Suffering has made me more compassionate to others and has helped me realize my NEED for a Savior.
Suffering is vital…without it, I may never have come to the cross.
Amen. Nobody likes the suffering, but what it produces is invaluable. Thank you TC.
It is in the suffering, the trials, and the testing of our faith that we grow.
Suffering only denies God as an active presence in our lives if we, in the midst of it, turn from Him. And even this does not deny God himself, but rather it shows our own shortcomings and limited faith.
To say that suffering denies God would mean that Jesus could not have been the Son of God and suffered as He did. Jesus modeled suffering for us.
Dusty Rayburn recently posted..Being Still is Doing Something
So true. Struggle leads to growth in every area of nature and life. I’m so glad He gives us grace and comfort through it all and helps us express the same love to others. Thank you, Dusty.
Awesome post, Jason. I’m with you. I tell people this isn’t the Garden of Eden and it is a fallen world that will pass like the blink of an eye. I also point out the fact that sometimes suffering or accidents brings about good things for others. If we leave here knowing our Father personally we get to be in a perfect place! The way He designed it in the first place!
So true. He works all things to good for those who live Him and are called according to His proposes. Paul said his suffering meant comfort for the churches he loved. God works it out, we can rely on grace. Thanks so much, Floyd.
You have hit on one of my favorite verses, Jason. Many times it has brought me through times of intense suffering. Like now for instance.
Just the promise that God will bring comfort to us in our pain and then allow us to comfort others in the same way is a beautiful thing.
But that doesn’t mean suffering isn’t painful. I have learned for more from pain then I will probably ever learn from pleasure. But I have never enjoyed the experience and I look forward to the day when all suffering will end!!
In the meantime I hold fast to the truth that God is Faithful. In good times and bad, He is there to bring us through. He never leaves us or forsakes us. His comfort is a blanket of love wrapped tightly around us.
I like to embrace and comfort others who are suffering. Many times words fail but body language speaks volumes.
Melinda Lancaster recently posted..The Moses Quilt: An Interview
What a perspective, Melinda. You’re so right. We don’t have to like the suffering to like what it produces in us. We can trust Him completely and share our comfort with others. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experience.
It was never God’s intent for any of us to suffer, just as it wasn’t His intent for His own Son to suffer. But just as He prepared from the foundations of the world for it, so should we prepare ourselves for what is to come our way. Suffering only dennies God if we choose to suffer alone.
I promise I didn’t copy off of Dusty’s paper.
Philip recently posted..Brighter Shining Still, A Review
Great point! Thanks Philip. And if you copied, I couldn’t tell.
I want to share with you from Hebrews 11:17-24. As you know this is the “heroes of Faith” chapter… but in these verses there is another group of people. They didn’t gain great victories out on the battlefield. They didn’t enter the arena of life before large audiences and perform great feats for God. These are the “others,” and they are the ones who… if you want heroes… are really God’s heroes.
Notice the contrast here. Back in verses 33 and 34 it speaks of victories which were “won”… it spoke of how they “subdued kingdoms… wrought righteousness… obtained promises… stopped the mouths of lions… quenched the violence of fire… escaped the edge of the sword.” How do we explain this? One group by faith escaped the edge of the sword… and another group by faith were slain with the sword.
My friend’s… if you can walk up and give your testimony and tell how God has healed you-and I will join you in that-or if you can get up and say how successful you have been……I want to remind you that there are multitudes of God’s saints today who are suffering. They are paying a tremendous price. Do you know how they are doing it? They are doing it “by faith.” They have lots more faith than I have… and I think they are choicer saints than I am!
•These bad things happened to you because I intend to work it together for your good (Romans 8).
•These happened so that you would rely more on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1).
•This happened so that the gold and silver of your faith would be refined (1 Peter 1).
•This thorn is so that the power of Christ would be magnified in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12).
Great points, Ike. Love how you expressed that. Thank you.
Thank you Jason! With everything that has gone on in my life the past 5 months this was a huge encouragement. You blogs have been an inspiration and you have really been a blessing to me. Thank you and God bless you and your family!
Thanks so much for that encouragement, Vince!