Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but 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. Romans 5:1-5
When sin entered the world, suffering came with it. Physical pain, mental anguish, emotional distress, and spiritual torment have continued throughout time. We see it every day in the form of illness, accidents, disasters, abuse, broken relationships, betrayal, guilt, shame, etc.
As a rule, the world and our flesh abhor suffering; many see it as senseless and believe if it can’t be avoided then it should be medicated with “comfort food,” alcohol, sweets, prescription medications, illegal drugs, “me time,” or any other activity or substance that distracts from discomfort.
And while there is certainly nothing wrong with alleviating suffering, as believers in Jesus, we harm ourselves and miss out on the blessings God has for us when we try to manage our suffering (or others’ suffering) apart from the cross of Christ. Turning to false Saviors (food, drugs, sex, self, etc.) in our pain, compounds our suffering, but looking to Jesus relieves it.
When we look to Jesus, we see God is not aloof to our pain. He has entered into it in the Person of Jesus. When we look at the cross we see Jesus entering into our pain. The prophet Isaiah put it this way, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5 NIV
Suffering of any kind hurts. It is agony. Look at all the words used to describe Christ’s suffering - despised, rejected, devalued, pain, stricken, afflicted, pierced, crushed, wounded, etc. As with Jesus, our pain is real; we don’t want to deny it, but we do want to look to Jesus so that He can redeem it.
Oh, dear friend, in the suffering of Christ on the cross, we see the power and glory of God (John 7:39, Romans 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:3)! Similarly, when we look to Jesus in our weaknesses and our sufferings, God is glorified, and His power revealed in us.
When we are suffering, and we look to Christ and draw near to Him with our pain, we experience deep intimacy with Him. His sacrificial love pours into our hearts by His life-giving Spirit to comfort and encourage us, and His resurrection power flows through us to sustain us as we wait for the redemption of all things (Romans 8:22-24).