good can come through suffering
good can come through suffering
Suffering can cultivate a proper reverence and respect for God in our hearts.
It helps us appreciate the sacrifice Christ made to rescue us from hell.
It fills our hearts with gratitude to Jesus who bore our sins and who will ultimately put an end one day to sin, suffering, and sorrow.
Suffering can remind us of God’s patience and loving kindness toward an unbelieving world. It is only by the restraining hand of God that the world has not disappeared with a fiery roar.
Suffering pushes us to let go of the sins that Christ suffered to forgive.
Suffering is the textbook that teaches us about our true selves and what is hidden in our hearts.
Suffering reminds us that this life can never keep its promises, and it lifts our sights toward heaven where one day every tear will be forgotten.
Affliction unites us with Christ as we share in the fellowship of his sufferings.
Hardships increase our empathy toward others who face similar problems.
Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder and chief executive officer of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to provide Christ-centered programs to special needs families, as well as training to churches. Through the organization’s Christian Institute on Disability, Joni and her team have helped develop disability ministry courses of study in major Christian universities and seminaries. Visit us at www.joniandfriends.org.