Perseverance Through Suffering

Recently I have observed two godly families as they have endured the loss of their very young daughters. Upon hearing the news about each child's death I began to question my faith...is my faith in God firm enough that I could endure such a tragedy and still bring glory to Him? How could I possibly lose someone I love and still find the strength to praise God? I wrestled for days with this concept and only found myself more frustrated and discouraged until I came to the chapter on perseverance in the book I am reading (Discliplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes).

She started the chapter by relaying the story of a couple who were in a terrible car accident and lost 6 of their 9 children when the car burst into flames. She told of how the couple's physical recovery gave them time to read the Word of God and reflect on his character and promises. Though I began to see the process that they went through to bring glory to God through their suffering, I still found myself discouraged. I thought "I still believe that if I were faced with the death of my child, I don't know if I could truly bring glory to God in the way that these families have".

But as I read on, the author made a point that finally gave me some hope. "Faith in the goodness of God in the face of extreme adversity doesn't just happen. It grows out of perseverance in the day-in, day-out grind of everyday life". These families that I had observed and read about were not just suddenly stricken with amazing faith in God that they had not cultivated. The faith came because they had spent years knowing God better and trusting every day in the goodness, mercy, justice, kindness, grace, omniscience, omnipotence and sovereignty of God. So faith like this comes from trusting in God through my daughter's doctors appointments and possible surgery. It comes from praising God when I feel like crying because people I trusted have hurt me. It comes even from just relying on God to give me patience with my husband leaves his socks in the floor.

I also was reminded that even our cultivation of faith is not enough. Jesus Christ himself has given us an example to follow. He endured the cross (physical pain and separation from God) to bring glory to his Father. And as well, the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf. That is amazing to me! That God himself prays for us! God piles on top of our faith (which he has given us anyway, by his grace) a special prayer just for us.

And even beyond those things, I have learned that I should not be afraid of or resist suffering because God uses it as a means to make us more like Him. This is something that, as long as we are on earth, we will always need more of. He also uses the suffering of His saints to spread the Gospel--people can see how great our God really is when we rely on him no matter how difficult (or just plain annoying) a situation might be. And this is the one I find most inspiring...God also uses suffering as a means for us to see Him. We can learn so much about God through hard things that we go through.