Suffering

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. . . . Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.

Ephesians 5:2, 25

At the heart of our universe is a God who suffers in redemptive love. Because of this, we experience more of His love when we suffer within an evil world.

High up in the foothills of the Himalayas is a beautiful city called Kohima. It is in Nagaland, one of the states of India. We were there to help them celebrate a hundred years of Christianity. It was there that the Japanese were stopped in their thrust toward India during World War II. Buried in a cemetery are the bodies of hundreds of Indians, British, Americans, and those of other nationalities who made up the Allied force that halted the Japanese advance. At the entrance to the cemetery there is an engraved memorial which says, “They gave their tomorrow that you might have today.”

After sixteen difficult years as a missionary on the continent of Africa, David Livingstone returned to his native Scotland to address the students at Glasgow University. His body was emaciated by the ravages of some twenty-seven fevers which had coursed through his veins during the years of his service. One arm hung useless at his side, the result of being mangled by a lion. The core of his message to those young people was, “Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst the toil, the hardship, and loneliness of my exile? It was Christ’s promise, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.’”

We, like David Livingstone, may claim the same promise from our Savior and Lord. He does go with us through our sufferings, and He awaits us as we emerge on the other side of the tunnel of testing—into the light of His glorious presence to live with Him forever!

Our Father and our God, how can I thank You for the incredible love You have shown me by allowing Your Son to die on the cross in my place? I will live the life You gave me so that it glorifies You both in trial and triumph. I wear Your Son’s name humbly, yet boldly. And it’s in His name I pray. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).