The Blessings of Trusting God in Pain and Suffering

I’m cleaning out the basket above the fridge when I discover a tattered calendar. Opening it, I flip through the empty pages. I remember the year vividly. It was a year marked by pain and suffering. Illness kept the calendar blank for months. At the time, I was blind to the blessings of trusting God in our circumstances.

Surprisingly, I realize I’m smiling as I reflect on the year.

I recall the tears, the sorrow, and the prayers that seemed to go unanswered for months.

At the time, those unanswered prayers didn’t feel like something to smile about.

The Blessings of Trusting God

Most likely, you have a few unanswered prayers, too.

Maybe you’re praying for a child who turned away from the Lord or a friend who has never turned toward him.

Perhaps you’ve been praying for an ailing loved one, a financial blessing, a victory, an apology, or a breakthrough. Possibly, you’ve grown weary from waiting for God to answer your prayer. You wonder if you should just stop asking.

As I look back on the year my prayers seemed to go unanswered, I see what I couldn’t see in the middle of my pain and suffering: Even when God seems silent, he is still working.

Perhaps we all need to sit with our unanswered prayers and consider this: What God is doing in us is more important than what he is doing for us.

The Blessings of Trusting God in Pain and Suffering

This phrase sounds spiritual and truthful. However, when I’m in a season of suffering—a season of unanswered prayers regarding my pain—I don’t usually care too much about what God is doing within me. I just want the suffering to pass.

In these times, I often tell God that if he would just change my circumstances, everything would be better. I’d be less distracted, more joyful, and readily able to serve him. It seems to me that answering my prayer is the one way God might bring the greatest glory to his name.

The words of Scripture offer a different suggestion about our pain and suffering: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10).

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). #Jesus #PainandSuffering Click To Tweet

Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, was perfected through suffering.

If the Savior of the world was made perfect through what he suffered, should we expect something less—something easier?

Jesus Learned Obedience Through Pain and Suffering

God promises to use all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Furthermore, he defines good in this way: conforming us to the image of Jesus (See Romans 8:28-29).

God doesn’t always answer my prayers in the ways I want him to answer because he’s doing something in me that is more important than removing my suffering.

God uses pain and suffering to shape and mold us into the image of his Son. Perhaps this is the greatest of the blessings of trusting God in suffering.

David Gotts, the founder of International China Concern, wrote these words:

“Pain and suffering eventually come to us all. At some point, we will all find ourselves in places of darkness that will seemingly overwhelm, even destroy us. . . . But here is what I have learned. Every journey into darkness, whilst terrifying, has unexpected treasures hidden in it.”

The Blessings of Trusting God:

Even in our darkest hours, the blessings of trusting God are available for us all.

“Every journey into darkness, whilst terrifying, has unexpected treasures hidden in it.”

Are you suffering?

Don’t lose hope.

What God is doing in you throughout this season is far more important than what he is doing for you. Here are several of his blessings:

1. He is helping you become mature and complete (James 1:2-4).

2. He is molding you to look more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29).

3. God is waiting to reveal his power in your weakness. Lean into his grace and watch for his power to move (2 Corinthians 12:10).

4. He is waiting to comfort you so that you can comfort others just as he comforted you (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

5. He is helping you grow in trust so that you can face the future with a trusting heart (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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