Every one of us has known a measure of suffering. The happiest and most successful person knows from experience the meaning of words like loneliness, fear, disappointment, rejection, and failure. If we live long enough, we will add the death of loved ones, betrayal, ill health, and the feeling of uselessness to the list.
Some people suffer bitterly; some pitifully; some grievously; some needlessly; all inevitably. You cannot avoid suffering. You can muddle through it blindly; you can make it worse by rebelling against it futilely; or you can understand it biblically and bear it redemptively. Therefore, we need to learn the joy and privilege of suffering for the gospel.
There is great power in suffering. There is no more irrefutable testimony to the truth of the gospel than the Christian who bears suffering and affliction joyfully, without bitterness, with love. For only God could provide this kind of spiritual reality, and without suffering, it could never be seen.
I pray that God will grant us continued peace and prosperity and protect us from all unnecessary suffering. But I also pray that when he does send us affliction, he will help us accept and understand it biblically, and bear it redemptively.
--Donald T. Williams, from the "Quodlibet" section of Touchstone (March/April 2010)
