The Common Human Experience of Suffering

In Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (nkjv)

Nothing is more universal in this life than suffering. Suffering is a road that may lead us on a journey of loss, conflict, failure, heartache, and wounds in a host of unwanted, unexpected circumstances. No man is exempt whether in Christ or outside of relationship to Him. We may suffer when we disobey God and we may suffer when we are in complete obedience. On this journey we will encounter the common human emotions suffering brings: grief, fear, desperation, regret, doubt, distrust, anger, and disappointment.

Elisabeth Elliot once very simply defined suffering as “having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have.”[i] Who hasn’t had these words mark a circumstance, a season, or even decade in their lives?

The biblical narrative does its best to warn us to expect suffering in life both in didactic teaching as well as in the very real and human lives of the characters of Scripture. There is no attempt to sanitize the stories chronicled before us. God never hid the fact that life in this world would contain many experiences of “not getting what we want and getting what we don’t want.” Life on this planet is full of pain-filled disappointment; it is the mark left by the Fall. In fact, even the good we find in this life will still leave us with an unexplained ache.

What God has promised to those who call upon His name is that He will be with us and never forsake us. The beauty of salvation is that God descends to us not necessarily to remove us from conditions in this world but to enter them with us. Both in the ache of failing to be satisfied in the good things and in the despair of suffering His presence in us will be strangely and unexplainably sufficient. In the midst of the struggle with fear, loss, and disappointment His presence provides a peace that passes understanding. This strange ministry of suffering can usher our hearts into a place of peace and even joy that contradicts the realities of life in this world.

Father, You sent Your Son and called Him Immanuel, “God with us.” I need that reminder in the hard places I journey. Thank You for Your promise to be with me always. Help me rest in Your presence and find peace with You even among confusion and pain. Amen.