Stronger Through the Pain

Throughout our lifetime, we will experience seasons of loss. People we love leave us before we are ready. Jobs fade along with the security they promise. Relationships sometimes wither and leave us lonelier than we were before. Loss is a part of life. Suffering comes upon us all. However, (don’t you just love when there is a however!) for those of us who belong to the Lord suffering is not the end of our story. In fact, suffering doesn’t need to carry the same devastation for us. 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” And verse 19 adds, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Suffering and loss are a part of this broken and sinful world, but a life that is hidden in God’s salvation can experience it differently. Charles Spurgeon once stated, “Expect, beloved, to be enriched by your losses, to grow by that which looks as if it would crush you, and to become greater by that which threatens to annihilate you. Only put yourself into Christ’s hands, and he will make good use of you, and leave you better than you were before he used you as the means of helping and blessing others.” What a beautiful promise. Instead of feeling the absence that loss and suffering leave behind, when we trust God, we can bask in the enrichment of a trial that left our faith stronger and our witness to others more powerful. Reach out to God and open yourself up to be used by Him as a blessing to others. The thing that wants to break you may yet be the most powerful tool God uses to bless you and the people around you. (Written by Keegan Harkins.)