“I saw a river over which every soul must pass to reach the Kingdom of Heaven and the name of that river was suffering, and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river and the name of that boat was charity” St John of the Cross.

Suffering will either make us a bitter person or it will make us a better person. The focus of this blog is on how suffering can make us a better person. In order to understand the meaning of our suffering, we need to understand the origin of our suffering. In God’s creation plan, everything He created was good. There was no suffering, no plagues, no disasters, no viruses whatsoever. So, how did we get into this mess? The answer is in the question itself. WE GOT INTO THIS MESS, because we created the mess.

Sin entered the world through our disobedience to God. When sin entered, suffering entered along with it, because every sin deserves punishment and punishment brings suffering. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23 NewRSV). Most Christians blame the devil when they endure suffering, but the truth is that the devil can only tempt you, he cannot make you sin against your will. Neither can the devil cause any suffering, unless it is allowed by God.

Others blame God for causing their suffering. No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one (Jam 1:13). Therefore, if the devil is not to be blamed for our sins and God himself does not make us fall into sin, who is the true wrongdoer? One is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death (Jam 1: 14-15).

As I mentioned before, God allows suffering, which means He allows it, if we deserve the suffering and if it is for our good. To understand why God allows suffering, one needs to understand the nature of God. He is merciful and just. Some people only look at God’s merciful nature, others only focus on God’s justice. We need to consider God’s mercy and justice to get the full picture of God’s love.

Since God is just, it is right for Him to punish every wrongdoing. However, He is also merciful, therefore, He allows suffering to give us the opportunity to humble ourselves, to repent, to plead for mercy, to turn away from wickedness and to sanctify us.

There are two types of suffering: suffering for doing wrong and suffering for doing right. When we suffer for our wrongdoing, we deserve those sufferings. These are the sufferings the sinners endure. However, when we suffer for doing right, we earn God’s favour. These are the kind of sufferings the Saints endure.

We need to be grateful for the times God has allowed suffering in our lives, as those sufferings will draw us closer to Jesus Christ. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1Pt 5:10).

Suffering can be painful; however, God is calling us to rejoice in our sufferings as it is beneficial for our development. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 3:3-5).

The Saints of God underwent all sorts of sufferings and they endured it with great courage and perseverance. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake (Phil 1:29). They did not focus on the temporary pain caused by suffering but instead their focus was on God and His eternal will for their life. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:17).

God allows us to undergo suffering so that we can also be compassionate and sympathise with others in their sufferings. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Cor 1:3-4).

Suffering not only helps us suffer for our sins but it enables us to also cease from sin. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin (1 Pet 4:1).

Suffering leads to humility and humility leads to obedience to the will of God. Even our Lord Jesus Christ learnt to be obedient through his sufferings. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb 5:8). He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8).

Sisters and brothers; do not despise hardship of any kind as they are instruments of God to lead us into the path of righteousness. Suffering helps us unite ourselves to Jesus Christ and become one in His suffering. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (1 Pet 2:21).

Suffering has great potential; it can transform a sinner into a saint. Therefore, embrace it and rejoice in your suffering for it brings many graces and rewards in eternal life.

The following are a few quotes from Saints of God about suffering:

“All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly.” St. Francis de Sales

“If we only knew the precious treasure hidden in infirmities, we would receive them with the same joy with which we receive the greatest benefits, and we would bear them without ever complaining or showing signs of weariness.” St. Vincent de Paul

“If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.” St. Ignatius Loyola

“The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.” St. John of the Cross

“Suffering is a great favour. Remember that everything soon comes to an end . . . and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal.” St. Teresa of Avila

“Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Saviour; in suffering love becomes crystallised; the greater the suffering, the purer the love”. St. Faustina

“One day, I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end of the road without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their numbers were so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks but, stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.”  St. Faustina

“Without the burden of affliction, it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases” St Rose of Lima.

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