Ever since this summer, I have found it incredibly helpful to process through reading Scripture by SOAP journaling after I read. SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. This month, I am reading through the book of Job, and today the Lord spoke to my heart about suffering. This is what I observed as I read through the scripture this morning:
So here is my thinking. As I sit here and briefly reflect on moments of growth in my life, I'm realizing that most, if not all moments of monumental growth (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) came through times of suffering.
I think sometimes we underestimate how relevant the term "suffering" is to our lives. I mean, I sometimes even think that there's no way I suffer in my life. When I think of suffering, I often think of life or death issues like persecution, starvation, chronic illness, homelessness, abuse, and the list could go on and on. I think of these awful things that people go through, and while I'm thankful my experience with suffering has not been to that extreme, I think it is important to recognize that yes, a caucasian, American female of 20 years old, with two loving parents, a great home, attending a Christian liberal arts university can still experience suffering.
Suffering is defined as, "The state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship." I don't know about you, but I can recall many moments, days, weeks or even multiple months or years that I have experienced at least one, if not all of these three things. That's not to say I was suffering in every aspect of my life, but there have been relational sufferings, physical sufferings, mental/emotional sufferings, and definitely some spiritual sufferings.
As I am reading through the book of Job, I am realizing the parallels between his life and sufferings and the suffering that many Christians go through today. In many instances we rack our brains tying to figure out what we could have possibly done wrong to be "punished" and experience periods of suffering, when in reality, rewards for good and punishment for evil are always in Gods hands and given according to His timeline. Job's three friends tried to convince him that it was his sin that was causing his sufferings, which is often what many Christians believe today, when in reality, the Lord allows us to suffer in order to learn and grow.
This morning I thought to myself, "But why do we have to experience suffering to learn and grow in our faith?" And then the Lord quickly reminded me that there is sin and evil present in our world. There is a gap in our relationship with the Lord and because of that gap from sin and evil, we have to not only adopt our faith and relationship with the Lord and make it our own, but we have to work to get to know Him and learn to trust Him.
In and ideal, perfect world, the world that God intended to create and did create before sin tainted it, I have to believe suffering was and would be nonexistent because we would already know our Creator intimately. We would already have full trust in Him. There would be no need for learning and growing from our experiences with suffering because we would already be in perfect relationship with the Lord. As depressing as it seems, that that "perfect" world is no longer available here on earth, it gives me great hope for the perfect future that the Lord promises me in eternity. It also cultivates gratitude in my heart that the Lord allows me to suffer, because in my suffering I learn the most about myself and God and I grow the most; and it is in that suffering that the Lord always reveals His unconditional love and faithfulness toward me.
Accepting suffering of any form is not easy, and I encourage you to not take lightly any suffering you are experiencing, even if it seems mild to you. In all suffering there is an opportunity to learn and grow and to draw nearer to the Lord.
My prayer today is this:
Lord suffering is inevitable... So teach us how to suffer well. When suffering strikes, guard our hearts, minds and mouths and before we take it anywhere else, remind us to bring it to your feet and meet you on our knees. Reveal yourself to us in our sufferings and allow us to learn and grow in all of our experiences. Thank you for your sovereignty God. I love you. Amen.
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