Journey into Lightl

In the last few days, I’ve become aware of the sufferings of several older friends and relatives. One just got diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis that he was dreading to hear. Another was diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal cancer and starts chemotherapy this week – he is handling it well, but his wife is experiencing considerable anxiety.

Then a friend shared his concern about his wife who is slipping into dementia and is refusing to eat.

Even younger people I talked to were suffering. One received a diagnosis this week of Lyme’s disease and another was struggling with an undiagnosed pain that often keeps him standing all day to get his office work done because it hurts too much to sit. This has been going on for over a year.

What is going on here? I felt depressed over these sufferings and scared that they could happen to me. If God is good, why does he allow so much suffering?

Why?

The truth is we don’t know exactly why. Unless God specifically tells us, why we suffer belongs to the secrets things of God. “The LORD our God has secrets known to no one” (Deuteronomy 29:29.)

However, a few things we know. These include:

• The pain helps us look forward to a few years from now when we will never suffer again (Revelations 21:4).
• Suffering produces endurance and makes us stronger Christians (Romans 5:3-5).
• The difficulties develop our reliance on God who enables us to overcome sufferings that would otherwise crush us (Isaiah 43:2).
• Suffering helps us to experience God’s comfort, which helps us to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
• Suffering jars us out of our comfort zones and opens us up to a deeper relationship with God (Psalm 119:71).
• Suffering humbles us and gives us opportunities to allow God to make us stronger (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

So, how are we supposed to respond to the daily dribble of difficulties and sufferings?

How To Deal With Suffering

First of all, it’s a matter of perspective. How does six years of pain compare to 6,000,000,000 years of painlessness? “Why”, you say, “It’s nothing.“ So God says the same thing (Romans 8:18).

Another thing that is helpful in facing suffering is to accept it. M. Scott Peck, a Christian psychologist and author, has a quote that is one of my favorites:

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”

Difficulties have often frustrated me. “This should not be!” I say to myself. “This is wrong! God where are you?”

But there isn’t anything wrong – Life is difficult because we live in a world in rebellion against God. Our suffering is a natural consequence.

A final thought about dealing with suffering is to face it. We love to run from our pain. We take painkillers, stay busy, and repress our hurt.

Instead, we need to listen to the pain and learn from it. God often uses pain to get our attention. He wants us to change and deal with our problems his way.

May we grow to accept the benefits of our suffering. May we accept what we can’t change and embrace it. Let’s allow God to use suffering to do his good work in our heart.