Suffering. Just the very word standing alone has a negative feel and brings a chill to my thoughts.  None of us would choose to suffer, yet we all find ourselves on this journey at various times in our lives.  If we had our own choice, life would certainly be a bed of roses with no thorns to disturb the view. 

However, just as the thorns are necessary for the growth of the roses, suffering too is often essential in our spiritual journey.  When picking roses for a lovely bouquet to display, it is so easy to prick a finger and cause pain.  So it is in a beautiful life when suffering enters the pathway.  It is unwanted.  It is painful.  It is necessary!

I Peter 4:12, 13 emphatically declares, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange things happened to you:  13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

Suffering can simply be a growth spurt on your spiritual journey.  When the tranquility of your life is interrupted by hardship or pain, it is certainly difficult to rejoice.  However, when you endure suffering with grace, it becomes glorifying to God and will strengthen you as it makes you much more aware of your dependency upon Him.  It is then with hindsight that we can rejoice and find purpose in our suffering.

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