Carol McClain

Suffering and God’s Love

By Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

God’s love surrounds us when blessings flow like glitter at a party.

No one would be naive, though, to believe if we love and serve God we would never suffer. We need only look at our lives and realize it exists.

How do we know God loves us even when we suffer?

For one, God’s word confirms His love even when we suffer:

1. “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” (1 Pe 5:10).
2. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pe 4:12-17)
3. “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance” (Rom 5:3).

If these don’t help you, use a concordance and find the Scripture that comforts you.

The word of God gives us strength in times of trouble. I do know, through events in my life, that suffering produced great light in my life.

1. I loved a man once, and we planned to marry. I let down every guard I had built up over the course of an abusive marriage. Then he broke it off with me because he “wasn’t ready for marriage.” Two weeks later, he began dating a friend of mine that he eventually married. With a broken heart, I searched the Scriptures, and because of that time, the word of God opened to me in a way it never would have. It took many years before I found Neil, but my husband was worth the wait.
2. The friends of the two people who showed me God’s love and grace had a son with cerebral palsy. One day, while we sat at the dinner table, the child stuck out his tongue. My friend Al said, “There’s a miracle of God.” I bristled, as an unsaved person. “If this is God, I don’t want His miracles.” Then I knew. Our life is but a whisper. Eternity lasts forever. This child suffered briefly, but his life showed me how precious my child and my life was. We didn’t have a lot. We aren’t gifted. I’m not so beautiful. Does it matter? No. In a moment I’ll breathe my last. Then for eternity I’ll live in glory.
3. People lose children or their health. Finances plummet. Terrorists do their heinous acts. Through it all, God holds us dear. There are worse things than dying.

Look and you shall find, Matthew 7:7 says. Broaden this verse from the context, what we look at, we follow. If you focus on misery, that’s all you’re going to find. In the midst of it, God’s grace holds us together. He molds us to His image. We can see his beauty, if we look.