We have hope because we know there is purpose in our suffering
By Dean Collins
I suspect we would all prefer that we didn’t have any suffering, affliction, or even stress. The reality is that in this world, in our lives, there is no chance that our preferences for stress-free living can be achieved. There are plenty of reasons why this is impossible. I won’t take time to make a list. But the reality of sin, disease, and a fallen world create a cascade of situations that produce human suffering.
The God of mercy and comfort
In 2 Corinthians the apostle Paul opens his letter differently than most of his epistles. Right away Paul described God as the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. For anyone who has had a tough stretch during the recent pandemic, this is a perfect reminder of one reason we are still here. Our Heavenly Father is full of mercy and comfort and is ready to dispense it freely, even abundantly, during times of great suffering, affliction, and stress.
I’ll admit the last 16 months have been the hardest season to lead a private university. Being a college president is a complicated assignment to start with, but the added challenges of Covid 19 caused most presidents to wonder if they would survive. Some didn’t, and for hundreds of others, the verdict has yet to be determined.
Looking for hope
During difficult times we all look for hope, and often we look to our leaders. Children look to parents and grandparents. Employees look to management and owners. Churches look to pastors. Citizens look to elected officials. We all tend to look for someone to give us assurance and hope that somehow we can get through the current challenge.
Paul reminds people of faith that we can have unshakable hope because of the faithfulness of God. He can and will provide strength and comfort. However, his comfort is not just sympathy and warm feelings. God’s comfort literally provides strength to our very souls.
Paul is quick to point out in these opening verses that the purpose of our suffering, along with the discovery of comfort, is so we then can provide strength and comfort to another person who needs it. And as we recently experienced, everyone needs to be strengthened, comforted, and helped at different points in their journey. No one gets to go through life without some difficulty.
During the recent global pandemic, many of us realized that we are not as self-sufficient as we once thought. Hopefully, you received the spiritual breakthrough that Paul explained in the first 11 verses. Self-reliance won’t bring victory, but reliance on the God of all hope who raised Jesus from the grave does.
I mentioned that all of us are looking to our leaders for cues and clues that signal what to do in times of difficulty, but we are also looking for signals that suggest we will get through or past the challenges. One of my great joys of the last 16 months was watching my younger leaders deepen their faith and confidence in God. According to Scripture, this confidence is always built by going through the suffering. It doesn’t come by avoiding or ignoring it.
In us, through us
Suffering and affliction produce great inner strength as we learn to depend on God to meet our needs. And as we do, God creates in us leadership we model for others; and that, in turn, brings more hope and comfort to a new generation looking for help and hope.
Toward the end of 1 Corinthians Paul told us that our labor is not in vain. As he opens 2 Corinthians Paul gives us another reason this is true. As we receive comfort from God during our suffering, we become a conduit of hope for everyone around us. And we also give others confidence that whatever challenge comes our way next, God will always be ready to deliver us yet again.
Your time with God’s Word
2 Corinthians 1:3-5, 7, 9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV
Photo by Luis Galvez on Unsplash
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