Success Without Suffering?
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
Philippians 1:29
We can find comfort in the midst of mourning because God can use our sufferings to teach us and make us better people. Sometimes it takes suffering to make us realize the brevity of life, and the importance of living for Christ. Often God uses suffering to accomplish things in our lives that would otherwise never be achieved.
The Bible puts it succinctly: “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 RSV). Some of the godliest people I have ever known were men and women who had been called upon to endure great suffering and yet, because they knew Christ and walked in the joy of His presence every day, God blessed them and turned them into people who reflected Christ. Often I have gone into a sickroom or hospital room to encourage someone and have left feeling I was the one who had been encouraged and helped, because God had used their trials to make them more like Christ.
Before the power of the atom was discovered, science had to devise a way to “smash” the atom. The secret of the atom’s immeasurable and limitless power was in its being crushed.
Dr. Edward Judson, at the dedication of the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, said, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.”
Our Father and our God, Your suffering is often difficult for me to understand at the time, but I know it will eventually make me into a better person. Help me to bear up during the trials, patiently knowing I will gain spiritual health and wisdom as You work through it all. In the name of the Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).