LESSONS

I posted this to Facebook earlier this year and have been wanting to add it here as well. With everything going on at the moment, this is the perfect time for me to repost this… to reread it… to remind myself of God’s goodness and the TRUTH in the quote under the title of this blog.

Originally written on March 8th, 2010: “I have been faced with quite a bit of suffering lately…

… Situations that feel totally unfair and make my heart sad. Right now, its not really my own problems that have me brooding… my heart is aching for others at the moment.  Haiti, friends, work.  It the midst of it though, I am being taught of God’s goodness and that he wants to help me work this out.

You see, lately I have been reading a lot about suffering. Not really on purpose… it has just been there, when I’m reading.  It seems to be a bit of a theme with Jesus. This suffering.  But there are a couple other themes I’m picking up on too and that is good news.  One theme is comfort. God promises to comfort us and give us a peace that is so beyond our understanding given the road we are traveling down. The other theme?  Purpose. Our suffering, our sorrow, our challenges, our failure… it all has purpose.  Purpose!  I love that word, that concept.  It gives life movement, a forward motion when you just feel stuck.  I hate feeling stuck.  I despise the feeling of wasted time and missed opportunities.  It’s why sleeping in too long and sitting in traffic really gets on my nerves.  Ah, but purpose! That is something I can cling to.

So what is the purpose of our suffering? Well, I think there are many answers to that question.  Lately, though, God has my mind lingering on just one… to help others.  That’s it.  My hardships can increase my ability to help others through their hardships.  And the experience of being comforted through the darkest moments of my life grows compassion in my heart and the desire to give that comfort to those in need (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  Knowing that my suffering and the suffering of others has meaning, gives me another foothold; a little something to keep me from giving up, getting angry, staying bitter, and losing faith.  I love purpose. It energizes my weary soul. And boy does it feel weary. There will be moments, however, when I can see no meaning, no purpose in what I’m going through or what I’m watching others endure. In those moments, when I’m just too deep, I can fall back on the promise that Jesus is our comforter, the Prince of Peace, and able to heal the most broken of hearts.  He is so worthy of my suffering because for some reason he decided that I was worthy of his.

Here’s another beautiful thing… consider Jesus. His suffering has purpose too! Of course we know Jesus died to set us free from sin, to set us free to be with him. Amazing. But he suffered a fully human existence, complete with persecution, temptation, deep sorrow, rejection, and loss. And this he did for another purpose… to relate to me. To relate to me! My God became one of us so that I can have the most real relationship with him. With God.  And because he experienced it all, he is the perfect one to run to, to cry to, to rest in his perfect counsel, comfort, and peace. Beautiful.  I love purpose.”