I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But he was definitely missing one—a big one. Because Jesus makes it very clear that we will also have trouble in this world. We will experience suffering, and while that looks a little different for each person, we can be confident that in this life, we will all experience physical and emotional pain to some degree. When it comes to God’s promises, suffering is certainly not one of the feel-good promises we like the think about. But it is a promise, nonetheless, and it will happen, no matter how much we try to avoid it.
Many people reject Christianity because of suffering. They look around at all that is wrong in this world and believe that God must not exist. In their thinking, a truly loving God would never allow such suffering. They believe that a good God would make everyone on the planet free of disease, free from pain and struggle of any kind, and they reject God for not making that happen. But the Bible has much to say about suffering, and only God can give us the answers to our “why’s” that we are looking for. We suffer because Jesus suffered first, and we are called to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). We suffer because suffering produces endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). We suffer because it gives us compassion for others who suffer (2 Corinthians 1:4). We suffer because only suffering can lead to complete dependence on God (2 Corinthians 1:9). Suffering is temporary, but joy is eternal (Revelation 21:4).
Even the most beautiful flowers and the grandest trees in the world had to spend time in the dark and push their way through a lot of dirt before growing to be the envy of all the other flowers and trees. The strength of your faith is never revealed in the easy; it is revealed in the struggle. Your character doesn’t grow and become Christ-like in the painless or the successes or on the mountaintops; it grows in the pain, the failures, and the valleys. Your faith grows when you choose to lean into Jesus from places of deep despair, where failure leaves you beaten and broken, where your pride gets stripped away and humility finds you. That’s when you’re ready to pick up your cross and truly follow Jesus (Luke 9:23)! That’s when you walk in victory because the battle is already won! You are deeply loved!
Do not ever be afraid of suffering because suffering can birth a greater resurrection. Do not be afraid of laying your life down in a thousand ways because this is the only way to ever rise. Do not be afraid to pack nothing and only pick up your cross. -Ann Voskamp