What do you do with suffering? I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally handle it well. Whether it is emotional pain, relational pain, or physical pain it is never welcomed. And if you said that it was welcomed, I would question your mental health. Many times, when my pain involves a shocking betrayal or event, I first get angry. I get angry at the person, I get angry at the circumstance, and sometimes I get angry at God. One thing I have learned over the years is God welcomes my honest expression. He is not offended by my questions or anger. He desires authenticity. We cannot be intimate with someone if we are not honest with them.

Most of you have heard my story through my books. I’ve had my share of pain in my life. I’ll never understand why some things happen, but I now know that I have a choice. I can stay in my anger or work through my anger. (And you can take as long as you need.) We can’t get to the other side any other way than walking through to the other side. This is when my concept of God becomes very evident. If I don’t know that He is good and that He loves me more than I love my very own family, I will falter. Many times, I must remind myself of that truth. Because it sure does not always feel like He is good and loves me. This is when I must choose to trust what I do not understand. I realize I cannot see the future. And I cannot see the reason why certain things happen. And even if I grow from the event, I DON’T WANT IT! And again, that’s okay.

One more thing before I share from my first book. Did you know that God never created you with the intention of being able to handle the pain that comes from this life. This broken world brings enormous pain sometimes. We are mere human beings. Jesus didn’t die on the cross only to reconcile us to God so we could go to heaven. He died on the cross so He could indwell us, and feel our pain, and walk with us through the pain. He enables us to get through the unimaginable, and we grow more intimate with Him in the process. Not all suffering is for our growth, but God uses all suffering to help us let go of our self-strength, so we can lean on His strength in us. SO much happens inside of us during those seasons.

Here is an excerpt from my book, “Can God Really Speak Through A Pelican?”

“Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know You God, the power of Your resurrection and the fellowship of Your sufferings, being conformed to Your death.” Paul is speaking of wanting to know God intimately. Most of us hear this verse preached from the pulpit with the emphasis on how we can experience the power of God’s resurrection in our lives. Not many preachers explain that before resurrection, death must come. If we will join into the fellowship of God’s suffering and allow the suffering to conform us to His death, we will indeed experience the power of His resurrection. (This looks different for everyone.)

Do you know what this means? Joining into the fellowship of Christ suffering means that you feel His pain and He feels your pain. A bond takes place as you feel the same pain. Verse 12b tells us to “press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Jesus has laid hold of you. He’s not letting you go. Will you cooperate with His will for you?

There is a book entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows.” I like the title. Receive everything that God desires you to receive through this circumstance in your life. Take comfort in knowing that you are not in this circumstance alone. Jesus lives in you and feels what you are feeling. Cry on His shoulder and receive His comfort.”

Next month we will celebrate Easter. Good Friday is all about joining into the sufferings of Christ and remembering what He suffered. He is truly a person that knows how you feel when you hurt. I do not believe God is bringing every circumstance into your life or that it is His will for you. We live in a broken, sinful world that naturally brings about some unimaginable pain. But God has promised to use it for good. And sometimes we cannot even begin to imagine how anything good can come out of this pain. At that time, trusting Him with the unseen will bring us peace. And if you aren’t there, ask God to help you trust Him.