Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape. --Charles Dickens
2 Corinthians 12:7b - 10
Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me. So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Pain and suffering is an many faceted subject in the bible, and in The Word of God there are over twenty one definitions for those two words. There is suffering of all types that we experience in life. Some of it is because of our own bad decisions, and sometimes it is the result of the decisions of others, but face it, it is a real part of life that none of us will escape.
God's Word clearly teaches us that we will experience different varieties of suffering. We will suffer because of our faith, and Jesus clearly warned us of this. He said if they persecuted me, they will persecute you, no puzzle there, it's straight to the point. Jesus suffered and we too will suffer that same kind of rejection.
But...when it comes to the suffering that comes because of the effects of time on our bodies, it is plain that Jesus had great compassion with our experience of aging, death and disease. The shortest but loudest verse in the Bible is "Jesus Wept." The pain and suffering of ageing and disease impacts us all, and doesn't discriminate by age, nationality or economic status.
You and I can rejoice that God did not leave us in this miserable state, but sent His Son to rescue us from this terrible fate. We will suffer, but only for a "little while," even though sometimes it seems to drag on for longer than we would like. Jesus also sees you and I just as He saw Lazarus, and He still speaks to us in our pain, and through our sufferings, and shows us a little more of who we are and who He is. The very same Savior still calls out to you and I. He calls us out of our darkness and can loosen our bonds and cause us to arise and walk!
God Bless
Pastor William
