Member Log InLife on earth invariably, in some measure, includes suffering. God made each of us in his own image and likeness, and as St. Augustine said, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
When things on earth seem to be going well, the truly spiritual man or woman remains aware of that little gnawing inside that something is still missing. This yearning for God is, in a very simple way, a form of suffering. Whether we know it consciously, our souls fervently long for a relationship with the Lord. We want to know Him. We want to know who He is. Sure, we can know Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior while we live here, but we long for His presence.
The book, Making Sense Out of Suffering, written by Peter Kreeft, is a masterful work that beautifully explains the reason we suffer, the reason suffering is a part of our life, and the reality that our suffering, no matter how big or how small, can be of use to God. God didn’t make us because He needed us. God made us because He first loved us.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of suffering thus: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us." (Romans 8:18)
Jesus’ own tremendous suffering and death on the cross was the single greatest act of love ever accomplished by a man. Yet, when we offer our suffering to God, in big and in small things, He accepts our small acts of love, making them a part of the much bigger ocean of Love that He is, releasing the grace of His love elsewhere in the world, for the sake of His children, out of His love for us.
What we suffer in our lifetime can, if we give our suffering to Jesus, merit great grace. In suffering, our focus must remain outward, other-focused, sacrificial. We must avoid occasions of self-pity and despair. We must ask God for the will to be willing to endure what suffering may be ours for the sake of His kingdom. He will make use of it, and our suffering takes on a new and deeper meaning. Suffering is to the soul what soil, water, and sunshine are to the sturdiest of trees.
As Saint Teresa of Calcutta put it: “Suffering – pain, humiliation, sickness and failure – is but a kiss of Jesus. Anyone who imitates Jesus to the full must also share in his passion. We must have the courage to pray to have the courage to accept.”
