The Art of Suffering

At the end of every year, I ask the Lord to give me a word for the following year that He wants me to hold onto. A word that He wants to teach me about and grow me in. This year, He gave me imitate, and He’s taught me so much. One of the biggest things He’s taught me is that suffering like Christ makes me look more like Him. Over the last year, there've been a lot of trials and hardships I’ve walked through. Friends have let me down. I’ve felt unloved. I’ve been rejected. I’ve gone through breakups. I’ve cried. I’ve prayed. It’s been hard, but in the midst of all those things, I’ve become more like Him. 

Romans 5:3-5 says, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Suffering produces all the things listed above, and I know they make me look more like Jesus. Knowing this has completely shifted my perspective on hardship. Whereas before I was tempted to groan, complain, and feel bad for myself, I’m now able to celebrate and rejoice, knowing that not only does my suffering make me more like my Savior, but He is walking through it with me, and He knows exactly what I’m going through. 

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus knows how to sympathize with us because He, too, has been hurt, rejected, tempted, mocked, scorned, and persecuted. What an honor to share that with Him. In 1 Peter 4:13, we are commanded to “rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” We rejoice in the suffering because we will rejoice in His glory. If we join Him in the suffering, we will join Him in the resurrection. 

The truth I’ve learned is that if we want to be like Him, we must also suffer like Him. As hard as that may be, we can count on the truth of Romans 8:18. It says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The suffering is hard, but it pales in comparison to what's to come. So, I’m learning not to grit my teeth and groan until the suffering ends. Instead, I’m choosing to lean on the Son who suffered to carry me through. As I wait for the deliverance, I hold onto this truth: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”