Have you hurt so deeply nothing could mend it? Has grief, disappointment, or loneliness made you question everything? Have you failed so badly, you lost all hope? Have you wondered whether life was worth the trouble?
If not, thank God—and pray for compassion toward those who have. Young people may be tempted to dismiss those who face despair as “losers.” But remember: THEIR LIVES MAY BE SO MUCH HARDER THAN YOURS.
God allows extraordinary tragedy into some lives, using it to shape them. My mother lost both her parents as a child—and I have often thought about the way her loss bore fruit in me. Both she, I, and perhaps my entire family know Jesus better because of the way He used tragedy in her life.
Who suffers? Everyone. God makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, Matthew 5:45.
Even the Apostle Paul, a bold, courageous, hope-filled man if ever there was one, suffered terrible discouragement. Speaking of a trip to Asia, he writes:
“We were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we despaired even of life” 2 Corinthians 1:8.
But God comforts. Paul describes God as:
“The Father of Mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.
Why do we suffer?
God does not give us all the answers. But one is in verse 3, above: “so that we may be able to comfort” others. We suffer, then God comforts us so we can comfort others. There are deep truths here:
- God HIMSELF will comfort you—and there are few things sweeter than those intimate moments when God gives you His shoulder to cry on.
- God invites us to join Him in His work, as we comfort the suffering.
ΑΩ
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