The suffering continues but it’s much different now. frustration, anger, doubt, but not the pain that it was before. Mainly the feeling of not being loved by God…
It’s hard to understand why God allows suffering but He says, ‘fellowship of suffering’ and we should ‘not be surprised when some fiery trial comes upon us.’
God’s got this.
He’s working.
He’s near and He cares…
For us to dismiss suffering or to hate suffering is going to make it much worse. That is not to say the suffering will be different, but the acceptance and our perception of it. Whether we have done something to get ourselves into it or not makes a big difference in our ability to ride it out, to learn from it and as my friend said, to be humbled by it…
Some say, God doesn’t cause suffering. Well, we are created in His image and suffering is part of our walk on Earth. The more we dismiss it and refuse to accept it, the less we will draw near to Him which can be the greatest gift of suffering.
The sharing in His suffering, the fellowship in His suffering: To become more like Him and learn more of His character…
The pain is deep. I cannot speak. It’s a hopeless feeling, a feeling of despair, deeper than words, distress. The gloom is blinding and silence from God is deafening. Even when He speaks words of comfort, I strain to hear and the comfort only lasts mere seconds, perhaps minutes, but it’s not lasting. I guess it’s to keep me needing Him, to keep me close. To remind me who I am, who He is…
Scriptural References:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death;
Philippians 3:10
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you:
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that,
when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4:13