Friday, June 16, 2017

Suffering—Patient Endurance to Persevere


This is the one spiritual discipline that you don’t have to actively seek and practice, for it will find you. The question is, “Is your heart and spirit ready?”

June’s Awakening, Day 16

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.

 —Helen Keller 

It is by those who have suffered that the world has been advanced.

 —Leo Tolstoy

Jesus has many who love his kingdom in heaven, but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share his feast, but few his fasting. All desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for his sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion. Many admire the miracles but few follow him to the humiliation of his cross. Many love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them.

 —Thomas à Kempis

Christ himself came down and took possession of me… I had never foreseen the possibility of that, of a real contact, person to person, here below, between a human being and God… in this sudden possession of me by Christ, neither my sense nor my imagination had any part: I only felt in the midst of my suffering the presence of a love.

 —Simone Weil 

A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain.

 —Mildred W. Struven



Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2–4 NIV



In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6–7 NIV



Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because Godʼs love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3–5 NIV



Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3–7 NIV



            Suffering. Few of us would ever consider suffering to be a spiritual discipline. Yet the tragic irony of suffering is that it is probably the most powerful and most effective, although least desirable, means to propel us into spiritual maturity and becoming spiritually disciplined. Tragedies in our lives can also bring about important positive changes in our attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyle. Suffering will come. It is a matter of dealing with it appropriately that will either allow us to eventually move forward better, or be stuck forever in bitterness, pessimism, and skepticism. All tragedies and suffering must appropriately be grieved and dealt with and only time, friends and family, professionals, and God Himself can bring about the required healing and mending. With God on our side, and His Word in our heart, we can persevere and overcome trials and tribulations and allow those events to change, mold, and shape us in positive ways to become better, stronger, more mature, and more complete. It is our choice in how we approach these events in our lives and we usually can’t do this on our own. Nothing can ever fully prepare us, but a strong faith and disciplined heart and mind empowered by His Spirit will sure make the arduous journey easier.

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