Grace Present in Suffering

Suffering is one of the most challenging concepts for humans to understand. We ask questions like, if God is good, why does he allow bad things to happen, especially to faithful people?

When I was a child in the late ’70s, my parents took our family to the movie Joni, an autobiography about Joni Eareckson’s life. The film highlighted the diving accident that left her quadriplegic at seventeen years old. As she came to terms with her new life, she sought Scripture and turned her tragedy into a powerful witness for God with a ministry that continues today.

In her 2010 book, “A Place of Healing,” she confesses that, at first, she desperately wanted God to heal her physically. Then, two years after her accident, God healed her on a level she never expected: instead of walking away from her wheelchair, God brought peace, contentment, and joy to her heart by embracing His will for her life.

This is profound and possible because Christ embraced His suffering. He died a torturous death, and God resurrected Him to life on the third day. When Jesus carried His cross to Calvary, many women followed Him, wailing. Luke 23:28 reveals His broken heart more so than His broken body: Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.”

In other words, Jesus was saying, “Don’t cry for me; cry for those who will reject me.” The remedy for the sins of those who would receive Jesus came through His anguish. Grace came through Christ’s suffering, and because of it, grace is found in ours.

Although Joni still battled depression and, in the last twenty years, chronic pain, being confined to her wheelchair has made her know God better and feel His pleasure every day. This, she says, is more of a miracle than her ability to walk and live pain-free again.

When we change our minds about suffering, whether physical or spiritual, we are less fickle when difficult circumstances arise. We won’t back down, defeated in our faith, when pushed against the wall like Peter was when he denied Christ. We will see our sufferings as an honor to be associated with Christ and an opportunity to bring Him glory, as the apostles did following Christ’s resurrection.

God’s grace came in the person of Jesus. It is present in our suffering and will come for us to complete its work at Christ’s return. Our suffering is not in vain. It is a vital part of spiritually setting us free. Through Christ’s suffering and our willingness to share in it, we also share the power of His resurrection!

“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11 (ESV)