Suffering Well

I’m sure you have been there too. The season of “I don’t know,” the season where God seems silent and the season where the suffering seems too long to bear.

When I reflect on the past several years of my life, I can point out specific moments where I’ve seen God’s faithfulness. I can see situations that seemed horrible but were manifested for good and for purpose. But when you’re in the midst of one of these situations, it’s not as easy to be hopeful. In fact, it just feels lonely.

But as of the past few days through reading I am reminded of just how important our sufferings are. There are moments in life when we can choose to settle, all the while ignoring the voice in our head telling us, “this isn’t my best for you” or “you know this isn’t right.” Sometimes it’s easier to settle in there, because it’s comfortable and doesn’t cause us much pain... but is it worth the regret it will cause us later?

Lysa Terkurst writes in her latest book, “Make no mistake: being lulled into a false sense of security is worse than going through the process of suffering.”

Even in the dark places of life we want to keep avoiding, there are lessons to be learned there. When you’re walking through trials it is easy to lay defeated in misery, but God tells us we should consider our trials pure joy because we know the testing of our faith produces perseverance and with that perseverance comes maturity. (James 1:2-4)

When you rip the Band-Aid and enter into facing what you don’t want to face, seek the truth. Not the truth of your situation, but the truth in God’s word. It is better to wrestle with God than to fall defeated to everything that comes our way. “If we have a misunderstanding of God, we will most certainly have a wrong understanding of our circumstances.”

Don’t mistake your season of loneliness or suffering for God not hearing your prayers. “We must not judge the reliability from God on one individual event rather than the eventual good.”