Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV
3 Positive Outcomes of Suffering
#1 Suffering produces intimacy with God.
Job 42:5
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
"There's an opening of the soul that happens during times of stress or duress," says Dr. Hager. "During times of suffering, we experience God at a deep, profound level."
Romans 5:3-5
we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
God is the one who takes suffering like a jackhammer and breaks apart the rocks of resistance. He takes the chisel of the pain and the bite of hardship and chips away at one’s pride. And then sufferers are driven to the cross by the overwhelming conviction that they have nowhere else to go. No one is naturally drawn to the cross. Human instinct does not naturally lead people there. - Joni Erickson Tada
#2 Suffering equips us to comfort others.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Suffering gives us compassion for others who are hurting, enabling us to minister more effectively.
"Sufferers want to be ministered to by people who have suffered," writes Stephen F. Saint in his essay, "Sovereignty, Suffering, and the Work of Missions."
"People who suffer want people who have suffered to tell them there is hope. They are justifiably suspicious of people who appear to have lived lives of ease."
1 Peter 4:19
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
#3 Suffering produces growth and maturity.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
2 Corinthians 12:9
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness
In a Never Ending Storm,
Hold on to your faith and the promises of the God’s Word.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not into your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
Hebrews 6:18-20
so God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a steady and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us.”
Don’t ride out the storm alone.
Every believer, even ones with disabilities, are part of the body of Christ. All of us are important and needed. When one suffers, we all suffer. When one is uplifted, we all are uplifted.
Job wished he had never lived. God never explains to Job the reason for his suffering. In other words, it isn't because God answers Job's questions that Job is finally satisfied. Job was finally satisfied when he had nothing else but God and God showed Job who he really was. The Almighty God who loves Him.
Job 14:14b-15
All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
