Suffering Brings Us Closer To Jesus
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. -- James 1:2-3
Okay. I’d like a show of hands. How many of you enjoy trials of many kinds? Okay. How many of you enjoy pain and suffering? Right. Not a single hand went up. Not that I expected anything different.
We know that we will suffer during our lifetimes. And we know that we’ll endure pain, both physical and emotional. We even know that we’ll struggle from time to time. But to consider any of those things joyful seems like quite a stretch for anyone.
Yet that is what we’re told to do. Why? Because it is through suffering that we rely on God the most. If we could handle it all by ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Savior and Creator. Our trials draw us closer to God and make us stronger in our faith.
Those same trials can also cause us to move further from God. There are some common illusions about faith and every now and then we come face to face with them. One illusion is that Christians -- real Christians -- don’t suffer greatly. I’m not really sure where that one came from because the Bible tells us repeatedly that we will suffer.
And not necessarily because of sin. Sure, we can cause our own circumstances by making bad decisions. But no one decides to get cancer or have a cheating spouse or lose a child in a car accident. Bad things happen, not because we’ve sinned but because we live in a fallen world.
It’s just so sad when someone thinks they’re sick because God is mad at them. Or people look down on someone as being less a Christian because he/she struggles financially. Or we think that if we could just be a better Christian, God would protect us from all bad things.
It just doesn’t work that way. God doesn’t work that way. God never said He’d keep us from harm. God said He would walk with us through the valley. God promised to love us no matter what. God promised to give us strength and peace no matter what we face.
It is true that trials and pain change us from the inside out. They cause us to cling to Jesus, to hold tight to His hand because, honestly, when our world is caving in He’s the only steady thing we’ve got. He’s the One who will hold us up when we can’t face another moment of agony and despair.
Perhaps that is the joy James writes about. That closeness which comes when we draw closer to God, when we learn to rely on Him above all else, when we rest in His love no matter what turmoil swirls around us.
Pain and suffering are part of this world. But we don’t ever have to face it alone. Cry out to Jesus and feel His comfort surround you with peace.
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