When in the Midst of Suffering

This blog post has been stirring up inside of me for the past few days. It has been a battle within my Spirit. I’ve been feeling new things, which has come with experiencing and learning new things about God. This is a blog full of real, raw, deep emotions that I have been battling with these past few weeks… but it’s also a blog full of so much more truth, hope, and promise of who God is. This blog shares what it is I’m clinging to in the midst of this season. I’m praying that at least one person who reads this is able to cling onto the same. If you are feeling weighed down, disappointed, confused, misunderstood, angry, overlooked, neglected…friend, this blog is for you. 

I was there. And when I say that I was there, I mean I was there just a couple of days ago, feelings those exact same things. Like most, I’m in the middle of grieving… Grieving my senior year, grieving my friendships, grieving all the changes, and “lasts” that have all seemed to disappear. There were only a few more moments left in a finishing chapter of my life, and they were slammed shut; Like a chapter, with a horrible ending! I’m not writing this for pity, or to complain, or to discourage you in any way. I share this to show you that I am right along with you; in a bubble full of shifting emotions. It’s okay to hurt and to deeply feel during this all… you’re human. God made you to have complex, complicated, and beautiful feelings. But God also made YOU and this is where things change…There are some things that we need to understand about our Creator. He is good and He is for you. I have been reminded that this chapter may seem to have ended horribly, but the next chapter is in the process of being written. 

This past week I’ve been studying through the book of Job. Now Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1) God allowed Satan to take away everything from him, to show that Job really was the man that God spoke about him to be. Job was put into a bottomless pit of suffering. Now God didn’t create Job’s suffering, but he allowed it to happen. Why??? While reading through Job, I found chapter after chapter of Job going through many sufferings all physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. He literally lost everything and didn’t really deserve any of the affliction and suffering that was over him. We find him asking God multiple times, “Why?”. While reading, I related to him, and I’m sure most can, especially in the midst of what’s going on right now. Why does God allow suffering to come upon people… especially His people!?…

So we can experience His goodness in a new and radical way. Remember, God is good. He brings good from suffering. Just like he did for Job. Though it’s not His heart for us to go through suffering, He allows us to go through it because of the good that can come from it. Because of Jobs’ suffering, he came to a new realization of who God is, how he works, and how His goodness is perfect. Not only that, but in Job 42 we see God showing his goodness by not only taking away Job’s suffering but by restoring EVERYTHING and giving Job twice as much as he had before. Though we can feel like we’re in the middle of suffering, this story brings SO much hope and promise for the future. 

This is going to pass. God has a heart for restoration. He has a heart for his people. While Job was in the midst of his suffering, he trusted that God was at work even though he couldn’t see it. Take on that kind of mindset. Though we might not know the “why” behind COVID-19, we can trust that God is at work even when we can’t see it. I was recently talking with my mentor and she shared some wisdom with me that I think you can relate to. She said, “This time in life is so small in comparison to what you have in life ahead. Do not let any of this steal your joy. This is simply another twist in your journey beyond your control… one that has given you tons of time to reflect on yourself and your personal family before the next journey. It is a blessing to just have peace and time. Of course, there is so much to feel sad about right now…but so much more to feel blessed about.” Guys, that’s what I’m clinging to. I’m clinging to the truth that God IS good. He’s teaching, and restoring, and has His hand in all of this. There is so much to feel blessed about. So today, I challenge you, filter your emotions through the truth of who God is. I promise, when we shift our focus, we can’t help but be filled with joy. 

“But resurrection is not just consolation — it is restoration. We get it all back — the love, the loved ones, the goods, the beauties of this life — but in new, unimaginable degrees of glory and joy and strength.”

-Timothy Keller