Look Beyond the Hurting

No matter what its source or intensity, there is something about suffering that simplifies life.

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).

If you’ve never tasted bitterness, sweet is just another pleasant flavor on your tongue. You cannot be blessed without blessing, and in order to bless you must succor, and you cannot succor until you have suffered.

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lies, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. You know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:9).

To grow a crop, you know you need a little manure and digging and weeding – and lots of hard work. Perspective is the value of distance; so step back from the details.

We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance (Romans 5:3) for we are co-heirs with Christ Jesus if indeed we share in His sufferings (Romans 8:17). Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).

Trials are only designed to bring us to a level of trust and experience with God that we would never have known otherwise. God puts us up against the Red Sea to show His power to us and through us.