In Psalm 30:5, the psalmist says joy is found on the other side of suffering — weeping lasts the night, 'but joy comes with the morning. ' But Paul's testimony in the New Testament claims he found joy together with his suffering. He said this in 2 Corinthians 6:10, talking about being 'sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
The Tibetan monk Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche discusses four benefits of suffering: wisdom, resilience, compassion, and a deep respect for reality. Wisdom emerges from the experience of suffering. When things go well, we rarely stop to ask questions about our lives.
four sufferings ［四苦］ ( shi-ku): The four universal sufferings: birth, aging, sickness, and death. Various sutras describe Shakyamuni's quest for enlightenment as motivated by a desire to find a solution to these four sufferings.
But eventually, God brings vengeance for His people's suffering. God pronounces judgment upon these nations for their sins – including for the suffering inflicted on His people. The pain of His children angers God and brings Him to action.
“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).
Matthew 9:35). Moreover, the notion of suffering as punishment for sin was deeply embedded in ancient Hebrew tradition. Jesus rejected this notion and rather highlighted the unconditional love of God (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount -- Matthew 5:45 and the healing of the man born blind -- John 9:1-41).
Suffering strips away the facade of self-righteousness to reveal the deeply rooted sin within our hearts, creating in us a greater desire for the righteousness found only in Christ. We then strain towards the prize and long for the heaven-bound hope to be free from the constant battle within us.
When we are suffering, God is right beside us. Nothing can separate us from His love. He wants to show us His love through His church, and give us a purpose through His Word!
The twelve links or stages are (1) ignorance, (2) action, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form (mental functioning and physical matter), (5) six senses, (6) contact, (7) sensation, (8) craving, (9) clinging, (10) existence, (11) birth, (12) aging and death.
Suffering is a product of the fall, a consequence of human sin against God (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21). Suffering is in our lives because we are living in a broken world. Some suffering is due to our sinful and wrong choices, but some is due simply to the world being fallen.
Abstract. The author offers definitions for "spiritual" and for "spiritual suffering," suggesting that human spiritual needs include Love, Faith, Hope, Virtue, and Beauty. Spiritual suffering is experienced when these needs are unfulfilled. Spiritual care involves assisting in the fulfillment of these needs.
A second component of wisdom is a particular kind of reflectiveness. Here too, suffering—in particular, the kind of suffering that occurs as a result of difficult or traumatic life experiences—generates much more in the way of beneficial reflection than positive experiences.
Many people have given up on happiness, because their lives are full of suffering and problems. But do not despair – mature, authentic happiness can only be found in such troubling circumstances. It is through suffering that many have found enduring happiness and become fully alive.
Sometimes God is silent because we aren't ready for the message. He wants to talk to us about something, but we aren't ready. We have to go through refining trials to make us ready to listen. God is sometimes silent because He knows we aren't willing to obey.
God Uses Our Wounds
We try to avoid pain, but God wants to use it. God redeems pain and suffering for a greater and glorious good. He allows us to suffer to humble us and make us more Christ-like.
Because He knows this and loves us, He doesn't usually interfere with the consequences of our choices. If He forced us to make the right decisions, it would be impossible for us to grow and reach our divine potential. It would be impossible to live by faith in Him and His plan for our happiness.
To gain Christ we must accept the necessary losses. Paul said, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Nothing is more valuable than Christ, therefore no amount of suffering that draws us closer to Christ is too great a sacrifice to make.
Psalm 56:8 says, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” God knows our suffering and tears. He sees how we suffer, and He is near to us in our suffering. No tear that you have cried has gone unnoticed by your heavenly Father.
If you feel ignored by God, like He hasn't heard you or listened to you. Step out in faith that you feel is being attacked. The area that you've kept from God is the exact area that He wants from you. Step out in faith and to receive what God has for you.
Scripture reminds us that being burdened and despairing of life itself can strengthen our faith (2 Corinthians 1:8–9). This is because the deepest trials make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. The more we endure with Christ and find him sufficient, the stronger our faith becomes.
Galatians 5:21 says, “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Jesus understands our suffering because He suffered in our place. In Isaiah 53:5-9, we read of Jesus' suffering on our behalf. He was wounded, bruised, chastised, and whipped for our sins. He went beyond sharing in our sufferings as He received the punishment which our sin deserves.