Suffering: Live Deeper Than Its Reach

The way for a child of the King to endure hardships and sufferings is the realization that all is allowed for their ultimate good as well as for His glory, though perhaps we often cannot even imagine why. One fine day all will be pristinely clear. All. There is purpose in our pain. It is God’s primary tool for producing in His heirs of mercy Christlikeness. Godly fruit is best grown in the soil of our suffering – amidst all the commotions of the bullets of disappointments and the arrows of unmet wants and desires flying all around us and at us. Yet, it is difficult to rejoice when we want what we do not have or have what we do not want, Amen? Being thankful even amidst our pain. That is the sacrifice of praise and is a demonstration of God’s all surpassing power in these jars of clay of ours.  Because we know that while the “thing” that causes the suffering in and of itself is not good, what is produced in us from it is good. God is conforming us into the image of His Son and He uses these fires of discouragements, needs and wants to burn the dross off of us making us look more and more like Jesus. And He is committed to seeing this process through in His saints. He wants us to have a pure heart and, believe me, we want that as well. It is the good way.

Having this eternal perspective and hope will sustain us in the midst of our “temporary” afflictions and sufferings and will mark us in the world as those who continue on in an “other worldly” joy and peace despite circumstance far from our choosing. Remember, what we see is temporary yet what we live for is eternal. The world in its present form is passing away.  This should more than sustain us as it did the Apostle Paul. Fixing our eyes on Jesus enables us to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel doing the next right thing for His glory and our good.