Friday, March 18, 2022
Lord, No one likes pain. You hardwired our humanity to avoid suffering at all costs yet pain visits everyone, no exceptions. People of all stripes throughout the centuries join the ancient psalmist to ask the same question: why do good people suffer? For the believer, is there a purpose for our suffering? How should we view suffering? As a good thing? Maybe punishment? A consequence of a poor life-choice? Perhaps a bridge to deeper faith?
In Psalm 51, King David acknowledged his sin brought on his suffering, and he pleaded with You, Lord God, for mercy and grace. Violations of Your standards will always brings suffering in some form. But what about those who live as close as humanly possible to Your standards yet are afflicted with pain and suffering that seems more than they can bear? The psalmist suffered great pain in his later years from what some scholars believe was diabetes, yet he declared this spiritual truth: suffering was good for me since it caused Your Word [Your promises] to come alive to me (Psalm 119:71). As with the psalmist, amid our suffering, Lord, You will bring new levels of grace we otherwise would have never known. Develop in us a deeper understanding of Your Word than we had before our suffering, which will bring us a greater awareness of Your presence. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us how You learned obedience through what You suffered, so we, Your followers, aren’t exempt from pain. Use our suffering, our afflictions to bring us closer to You.
Lord, assure Your followers You will never allow our suffering to be in vain, but will develop more Christlike character in us. Amen
THANKFUL 
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