I avoid suffering because it’s uncomfortable. I don’t like pain. It can make me wonder if God loves me. But beauty and growth come through fire, pressure, pruning, molding, and darkness. For example:

For a piano to sound in tune, its 230 strings must be stretched to a total of 20 tons of pressure.

A piece of steel must be tempered—heated, hammered, and quickly plunged into cold water— over and over to become strong.

For a poinsettia to bloom, it needs a consistent twelve hours of darkness followed by twelve hours of daylight for three months.

Proper pruning of grapes often means removing 80 to 90% of the wood.

An ice cold plunge increases circulation, reduces inflammation, and improves the immune system.

Clay must be kneaded, molded, and heated in fire in order to become a hard, useable, strong, durable work of art.

Scripture also confirms this truth:

• When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
• Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Jam 1:2–4)
• We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Rom 5:3–4)
• In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Pet 1:6–7)

I need my pastor’s reminder that “There’s a difference between the work God does for us and work God does in us.”¹ My husband describes God’s work in us like this:

I contend that suffering involves the inner turmoil of the process of becoming Christlike. In this regard, the daily choice of dying to my own desires, and choosing Christ’s will in my life through the path of suffering.

Mark Burkholder

The tough times I go through build resilience and give me tools to endure the next hard time. I remember that I can survive and with God’s help, I press on.

How have you seen God work in you to build your character?

PRAYER

Lord, I recognize that hard times are part of everyone’s life and it is not helpful to compare trials. You have a plan for my life and you use suffering to produce Christlikeness in me. Please help me to be resilient and persevere. Teach me to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”²

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1. Libin Abraham, from his sermon on June 16, 2024, Handling Your Hardest Days ↩︎
2. Joyce Courtney, Yoga instructor ↩︎