more thoughts by more people that say it better than i ever could.
______________________________________________
the best prayers have often more groans than words.
we do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the One who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy.
suffering passes, but the fact of having suffered never leaves us.
_________________________
joy in affliction is rooted in the hope of resurrection, but our experience of suffering also deepens the root of that hope.
_________________________
i do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. if suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. to suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable.
_________________________
this is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in the world.
God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. what matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.
it is not a question of God allowing or not allowing things to happen. it is part of living. some things we do to ourselves, other things we do to each other. our Father knows about every bird which falls to the ground, but He does not always prevent it from falling. what are we to learn from this? that our response to what happens is more important than what happens. here is a mystery: one man’s experience drives him to curse God, while another man’s identical experience drives him to bless God. your response to what happens is more important than what happens.
chip brogden
_________________________
we all know people who have been made much meaner and more irritable and more intolerable to live with by suffering: it is not right to say that all suffering perfects. It only perfects one type of person . . . the one who accepts the call of God in Christ Jesus.
oswald chambers
_________________________
suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. i have been bent and broken, but – i hope – into a better shape.
charles dickens
_________________________
far too often, however, we resent and resist any interference on God’s part that might deprive us of our deepest desires. many Christians who sing, ‘it is well with my soul,’ are lying. it is not well with their souls because they are not persevering, and they have no intention of doing so, because they are bitter and hostile toward God and mourn over their ‘victimization’ at His hands. others are little better, for they ‘persevere’ with a cold, stony, stoic demeanor that constantly reminds God how much they are doing for Him despite His lack of reciprocity.
jim owen
(wow)
_________________________
grief knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger links than common joys.
alphonse de lamartine
_________________________
as cold as everything looks in winter, the sun has not forsaken us. He has only drawn away for a little, for good reasons, one of which is that we may learn that we cannot do without him.
george macdonald
_________________________
the will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. it may seem to be much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.
elisabeth elliot
_________________________
pain is never permanent.
teresa of avila
