Recently I was talking to a couple of my friends, and they all were going through some suffering because of different life circumstances. I’ve been going through some suffering in my own life. Suffering can be in the form of an incurable severe health condition, a parent struggling with a child choosing a sinful path, or anything else that causes pain. Some of those life circumstances might feel like it is more than what we can handle. How do you usually respond when going through sufferings? Some of us get very emotional and start crying when going through suffering. Others might get very angry and upset at the circumstances, and others might feel numb to the circumstances. I cry a lot when I suffer, and I remember once my throat was swollen because of that. I laugh at it now, saying it’s God’s way of telling me to stop crying.
So, why do we suffer? I think there are various reasons why we suffer. Some of our sufferings could be because of our sinful choices. Sometimes it could be because of other people’s poor or sinful choices. Other times we might suffer just because we live in a broken world. Whatever the reason for suffering, it can be very painful when we go through it.
How can we find strength or navigate life when we suffer?
1) You are not alone: Knowing that we are not alone and that God is walking with us through the suffering. God himself went through suffering, so He understands what we are experiencing and can give us the strength to walk through it.
2) Working in our character: Knowing that God is allowing us to go through suffering to work on our character so we can become more and more like Christ. According to I Peter 5:10, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (New American Standard Bible).
3) Community: It is important to be connected with the church community where other believers can pray for us. Being around other believers will help us realize that we are not the only ones going through suffering and that others are also suffering.
4) Comfort others: Some of the lessons we learn during the suffering can also be helpful to comfort others who are suffering. According to II Corinthians 1:3-4, “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. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ” (New American Standard Bible).
5) Future home: This place we live in is temporary, so looking ahead to the future with the hope that one day we will be with Jesus and all this pain will go away can help us navigate the sufferings in this life.
As long as we live in this broken world, we can’t escape suffering. So when we suffer, we can either cry or be angry, or lean on God. If we have a close relationship with God, we will not be shaken by the sufferings of this world. On the other hand, if our faith is not strong in God, we can easily be shaken when we suffer. Suffering can either bring us closer to God or take us away from God. While suffering, we can also have this confidence that God is still on the throne. If God allows this suffering in our lives, He will give us the strength to walk through it and use it for His glory.
