Is Suffering Bad?

Suffering is uncomfortable, by necessity. We don’t like it, or want it, and spend life avoiding it at all costs, or else getting through it as quickly as possible. Down to the chemicals in our brains, our bodies tell us that if we are feeling angry, or sad, or malcontent, or hurt, that there is something Not Quite Right and we should escape the situation without delay. While these reactions are helpful for keeping us out of trouble, they can also trick us into thinking that any kind of suffering is inherently bad. The truth is: suffering doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

The truth is: suffering doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

What if we reframed our worldview to see suffering as something to be savored and valued? Knowing that suffering has to be a part of our lives, doesn’t it make sense for us to stop trying to ignore it and instead embrace it and try to maximize its effectiveness in the development of our spiritual maturity? Someone once told me something along the lines of “1/7th of your life is a Monday, don’t waste such a significant portion of your week dreading it.” and she was totally right. Why do we think the appropriate response to encountering difficult or unsavory situations is to complain about them, or avoid them for as long as possible? Why do we waste our own time and energy fighting the inevitable?

I think the first reason we do this is because it’s the easy way out. Sure, we could fix that leaky faucet in about two and a half minutes, but that would mean going all the way downstairs to get a wrench, so instead I’ll spend three weeks vocalizing my frustration and adding to the negativity in my home until someone else fixes it or my frustration reaches a boiling point and I have no choice but to do something about it. In short, it’s laziness. Or at least it can be.

The second reason is a misunderstanding of scripture. There are a lot of people in the world who want you to believe that if you have enough faith, or if you are “good” enough, you won’t experience trials. In fact, the more faith you have, the more material gain you will experience! Isn’t that amazing?! Well no, it’s not, because it’s a lie. Jesus says this in the gospel of John:

“I have said these things to you,

that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation.

But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Hmm that sounds like a guarantee, directly from the mouth of our Savior, that we will experience suffering. That doesn’t fit in with the Prosperity Garbage at all!

Another reason we can be resistant to the positive aspects of suffering is shortsightedness. It takes active meditation to remember that our struggles are not forever, and they don’t control us. We get caught up in the negativity of suffering to such an extent that we feel the need to get out of it immediately. But the apostle James has something to say about that…

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”

We don’t like to suffer. I think we know deep down that we were not made for a life of depression and sickness and injustice, but one of great joy, fulfilling work, and communion with God. So this life is going to be hard, but we don’t have to give up hope, we just have to put our hope in the right place.

When our greatest treasure is comfort, our greatest enemy is suffering. When our greatest treasure is Jesus Christ, our greatest enemy is anything that tries to separate us (and our brothers and sisters) from him. Suffering is a weapon used by the enemy to attack our trust in our loving Father, but by the power of the Lord it can be used to bring us into a deeper relationship with Him instead! Now that’s amazing!

As a side note, we all know that it can be hard to appreciate something without ever having experienced the absence of it. Winter makes us appreciate summer more, a trip makes us miss our loved ones, and dehydration makes us appreciate water. So even though hardship is (by definition) hard, hold fast to the knowledge that the effects of a broken world are deepening your longing for a renewed one, and that it is in the hardest times that we cling most tightly to Jesus and His word. Suffering doesn’t have to be enjoyable to be profitable, and our God uses every circumstance for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.