I think one of the hardest parts of suffering is not knowing why.
Especially when you’ve prayed for relief, you’ve waited, and nothing seems to change.
And sometimes it goes on for years.
It’s easy to speak about God’s purposes in suffering when you’re not the one going through it. It’s another thing entirely when you’re exhausted, hurting, and struggling to make it through another day.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (ESV)
Paul wasn’t at all minimizing suffering. This was a man who had been beaten, persecuted, and brought to the point of despairing of life itself. But he understood something we can so easily lose sight of.
Our suffering isn’t simply something we endure until we get to heaven. God is always accomplishing something through it, even when we cannot see what that is.
I thank God for the real life testimonies of the saints who have gone before us, and those who are faithfully enduring suffering even now.
There is something so encouraging about seeing how God has sustained His people through unimaginable sorrow and used their suffering for good, not only in their own lives, but to strengthen the faith of others. That is such a beautiful confirmation of this truth.
Circumstances do not always change. Pain is not always removed. But God remains faithful.
Will you trust Him even when He doesn’t give the relief you’ve been praying for? We don’t have to pretend suffering doesn’t hurt. We don’t have to understand everything God is doing.
But we do have to believe what He has told us.
Not one moment of suffering in the life of a believer is meaningless. The same God who did not waste the suffering of His own Son will not waste the suffering of those who belong to Him.
And one day, the afflictions that seem so heavy now will be outweighed by an eternal glory beyond anything we can comprehend.
Until then, we walk by faith, not by sight.
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Wheels for the World®
Hand-delivering wheelchairs and Bibles to people with disabilities in developing countries.
(818) 707-5664 | info@joniandfriends.org,
website: https://joniandfriends.org/
