For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:5 NASB)

The sufferings of Christ are Ours

The sufferings of Christ are ours. On the surface, this truth from 2 Corinthians 1:5 doesn’t bring favorable feelings, does it? When we think about suffering, all sorts of thoughts about the awful things we see in the world today may come to mind. Or perhaps we might think of long-drawn-out painful situations we’ve experienced or watched others walk through. Suffering, on the surface, really seems to have no benefits.

Something Surprising

But if we are walking in faith, something surprising happens – suffering becomes a powerful catalyst for growth. And incredibly, in His kindness and grace, God sends Jesus to walk beside us and comfort us in as we walk through adversity. Even when we can’t see the changes as they happen, even when we have no answers to the “whys” we may be asking, one thing is sure – the abundance of suffering we see around us or face ourselves today is always balanced by the abundant comfort we have through Christ.

The abundance of suffering we see around us or face ourselves today is always balanced by the abundant comfort we have through Christ. (see 2 Cor. 1:3-5) Click To Tweet

Recently, I was surprised to find that the original Greek root word that we translate into the English word “suffering” has some powerful insights about how suffering can bring us closer to Jesus and be the thing in our life that God uses to help us grow.

Take a look at this definition:

páthēma (from pásxō, “the capacity to feel strong emotion, like suffering”) – properly, our capacity and privilege to experience strong feeling; felt, deep emotion – like agony, passion (ardent desire), suffering, etc. (The Discovery Bible HELPS Word-studies by Gary Hill, 2017)

God created us in His image and with this comes the capacity to feel strong emotions. Not only that, but this special capacity we have is a privilege.

I don’t know about you, but when I feel like I’m suffering, I don’t necessarily think of it as a privilege. But I’ve had the opportunity to learn a few things lately, and I’ve come to realize something significant.

Intense emotions (especially those we tend to believe are negative emotions) and the Christian faith are not two separate things.

God Understands Our Suffering

God created us with the capacity to feel deep and intense emotions. This is something He understands and does not condemn us for.

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8 NLT)

Can you see the compassion in this verse? God cares about us so much that He remembers every sorrow. In His Father’s heart, He saves each and every tear that has ever fallen from our eyes. He records each one in a particular place and keeps it safe. He holds our pain and suffering in His hands. God knows every detail, and then He begins to work for our good.

These painful tears often come from discouragement, anger, frustration, bitterness, depression, or hopelessness – all of these are emotions we might count as “negative.” We feel as if we should not have those kinds of feelings if we are good Christians. However, intense emotions are not only a part of the human experience, but we were created so that we would have the capacity to experience them. They are a vital and necessary part of our Christian walk.

Intense emotions are not only a part of the human experience, but we were created so that we would have the capacity to experience them. They are a vital and necessary part of our Christian walk. Click To Tweet

God Created Us This Way

God created us to feel things deeply. In this, He has invited us to share the deep feelings of Christ as He walks side by side with us through adversity. In ways we can’t understand this gift of intense emotions is something that gives us the ability to know the Lord and love Him in a deeper way. And it’s this kind of knowing that deepens our relationship with Him and prepares us for heaven.

Gary Hill states it so well in these quotes:

Experiencing deep (intense) feeling in partnership with Christ is a precious privilege that fits us for glorification – and therefore is not something we should curse!  The Lord authorizes suffering in many scenes of our lives – including when we are walking in His “perfect” will. (The Discovery Bible HELPS Word-Studies, Gary Hill, 2017)

The courage to feel is so important!  The Lord uses noble, “heavy” feelings to know Him and His fullness (abundant life, cf. Jn 10:10).  Strong feelings, experienced under God, produce positive tensions so the heart and mind discern Him better. (The Discovery Bible HELPS Word-Studies, Gary Hill, 2017)

Suffering Can Be Transformational

Understanding these truths about suffering and the emotions that come out of it is bringing me peace. I’ve come to realize that hope, peace, and joy don’t look like I thought they would look and they don’t feel like I expected them to fee because the picture in my mind was missing something essential. It did not include suffering and adversity as the catalyst of hope, joy, and peace.

Is it possible that we can’t get to places of peace without first passing through suffering? I believe this may be so.

Being with Jesus on a daily basis is an incredible privilege we have been given. Sharing with Him in all ways – even in suffering – is something that will bring glory to God as we continue to be faithful and watch to see what God can do.

And what can God do with suffering? More than we can understand on this side of heaven, but if we look carefully, we’ll find spiritual growth, a deeper walk with Christ and the ability to comfort others as benefits that come out of adversity.

 

 

 

Focus Verses
The verses in this post are linked to their appropriate pages at www.biblehub.com where you can find free resources for further study.

Let’s Talk
Have you ever felt like a failure because of emotions that you consider negative? How have you handled this, and what truths have you learned from God’s Word?

Emotions and Perfectionism

Perfectionism tells you to hide your emotions, especially those that are considered negative such as depression, anger, bitterness, or sadness. Perfectionism tells you to wear a mask that paints a pretty picture of your life for others. When we do this, we are not truthful, and this  can become a huge barrier that keeps us from developing close relationships with others. If we find a trusted friend or mentor and admit we are struggling, that barrier begins to come down as we carefully share with others. Finding common ground (because who doesn’t struggle with something in this life?) helps others begin to feel less intimidated around us and stops comparison in it’s tracks.

Unfortunately, this barrier that is caused by suppressing our emotions can also reflect into our spiritual lives. We need to start tearing this barrier down by understanding that having intense emotions is something that God does not condemn us for. Instead, He created us for them, and part of the benefit of that is that we can share a deeper walk with Christ because of it.

Having intense emotions is something that God does not condemn us for. Instead, He created us for them, and part of the benefit of that is that we can share a deeper walk with Christ because of it. Click To Tweet

Intense feelings such as discouragement, depression, or frustration are not sinful, and we should not feel as if we are failures in our Christian walk for experiencing them. Perfectionism (aka lies from Satan) might tell us we need to control and hide our feelings or that we should be better able to handle our situations in a calmer manner, but this verse gives us a glimpse into the fact that intense emotion is a vital part of our faith. Jesus experienced intense emotions, too. When we are walking in faith, right beside Jesus, he can help us work through our emotions and come out on the other side a stronger person, more prepared to handle what lies ahead.

Let’s Pray
You’ll find a Prayer for Adversity on the pinnable image above. It is based on 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. You can also pick up a FREE PRINTABLE of this prayer in our Prayer Library!  Look under the heading Prayer Printables on the home page of the Prayer Library.  You can get the password to the library  HERE. 

The post What Can God Do With Suffering first appeared at www.journeytoimperfect.com.

This post may be linked in the following places. Click through to find more hope and encouragement for your new year!  Moments of Hope / Tea And Word Tuesdays / Tell His Story / Cheerleaders of Faith /  Coffee for Your Heart / Sitting Among Friends / Chasing Community / Salt and Light / Heart Encouragement Thursday / Counting My Blessings / Grace and Truth