If God Wants You to Suffer

“But they do not let the teaching go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:21‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Sometimes I have a bad attitude because I am suffering. There are several ways that I observe how suffering people react, including myself. We try to analyze why in the world God has allowed this in our lives. We question why God picked us and not our neighbor. We try to buy more or eat more or try to stay entertained more to wipe out our pain. The majority of people just get bitter and decide that God cannot be trusted because they are suffering and they walk away.

“So if God wants you to suffer, you should trust your lives to him. He is the one who made you, and you can trust him. So continue to do good.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Look what this verse says, "If God wants you to suffer." Yes, even though I don't like this sound of this, God has a reason for me to suffer. He says that this is the very reason that He can be trusted. Think about that. Because you are suffering, He should be trusted. Why is that?

“My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭ERV‬‬

He wants us to be mature and complete. He wants us to be patient in suffering. I was crying out to God this week and was asking God to end my dad's suffering. Pa has ALS and the suffering is unbearable! God clearly spoke to me that night. He made it clear to me that He knows exactly when Pa will be mature and complete. He knows exactly when I will made mature and complete. He knows what it will take in our family's lives to be made mature and complete. He has not turned away on a break and forgotten us.

I must ask myself. Do I want to be all that God wants me to be? Do I want to be complete? Do I want the end result to be good for eternity? Each of us must decide that when we suffer, we will choose to trust. If we walk away bitter and decide that He cannot be trusted, in eternity we will be judged harshly.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt joy. Joy is different from happiness. Happiness can be bought with food or money or entertainment. It is cheap.
Joy is when your circumstances did not change one bit but you changed.

Thank you, Lord for loving me so much that you know what I need, including the suffering. Thank you so much that when I meet you in heaven, you will remember this time of pain and you will say that I pleased you then, instead of grieved you with my attitude. I want it to be said that I trusted you wholly.