From Terri Schiavo to Charlie Gard
On Suffering and God
Photo By: Flickr/Counselling
All of us will experience suffering at one time or another. How we deal with suffering is a choice we have to make.
Suffering has a purpose whether or not we realize it. It has the power to weaken our will in order to accept that which we cannot change. We must decide if we will rebel against it or grow from suffering. When we see pain and anguish only through our eyes we loose sight of the spiritual growth that is only possible through that which we do not welcome.
When we are rapidly growing during childhood we sometimes get growing pains. Without these bouts of aching knees we would not grow. Our pain is useful, even if we do not want it. The same is true for our souls. We do not want to suffer. Yet through sufferings we learn more about ourselves and God then we could ever learn without pain. When we are suffering we learn obedience because we cannot change it. We learn we cannot depend on ourselves alone.
When we find relief from our pain, we learn gratitude for it. During times of great difficulty, we have an opportunity to unite ourselves to the cross of Jesus and recall how much God suffered to redeem us.
Suffering is how we grow in the life God gave us. It is how we repair our broken relationship with God. If we were without our given cross we would quickly become so wicked we would never find salvation. Like the child who must go through the growing pains of the body in order to grow into adulthood, we receive the hardships we do in life to grow in holiness.
While no sane person would rejoice in sufferings, we can conclude without them we would never learn to love God. God allows suffering in the same way a doctor allows a patient to undergo a painful surgery in order to be healed.
We have to decide how we react to our time of suffering. We can reject it or we can accept it. When we accept suffering, we become transformed by uniting it to the sufferings of Jesus. Offering our tears to God is how we partake in the Divine Life of Jesus who suffered greatly.
When we offer our sufferings to God we find purpose in it.
I knew a woman who lived in a nursing home with multiple sclerosis (MS). She was the most pleasant person I ever met. She accepted her disease and didn't complain. I marveled at here sweet nature. I'm sure that she got discouraged. I'm sure she didn't want MS. But through her acceptance of it she had an inner peace. I do not know how long it took her to reach her acceptance of the disease. When I met her she had already chosen to see the good in the hour at hand. She taught me more about dignity and patience than anyone else I ever met. Without her example I could never have learned that while we don't have control over that which happens to us, we do have control over how we love God despite the cross we carry. Sometimes the suffering we don't want makes us the most pleasing to God.
When we unite our will with God's and hand over our present circumstances to Him, we become like a piece of marble God uses to create a wonderful sculpture of immense beauty. It may take a lot of work to make, but the end results will be well worth the pain of the chisel.
It is fitting to remember that God will never give us more suffering than we can endure. If we are currently well with no pain or anguish we may find we are called to be a helper to those who are suffering. In this way we partake in the mystical body of Christ.
It is a very real and important calling to suffer or to share in the sufferings of another. When we unite our wills with God's we are transformed into a faithful lover of God.
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For anyone interested in my short/flash fiction, this is a free eBook on Google Play (PDF) callled Seasonal Short Stories
(also on Amazon, but it is $0.99 there).
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About the Author
A long time ago I thought I was a writer. Because my parents were practical, I went into teaching. About eight years ago, I began to write again. So here I am.
I hold a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Penn State University (University Park). I enjoy gardening, reading, Pittsburgh sports, and cooking, but not in that order. My regular job is being a wife and mother.
