Suffering is never for nothing
INTERVIEW #2
Let’s jump right into it!
Out second interview is with a very precious young lady1. Despite her extensive physical suffering and undoubtedly correlated emotional distress, she is a joyful ray of sunshine, spreading hope and love around her. Battling a serious illness from a young age is not an easy feat for anyone, but to see her spectacular resilience is nothing short of inspiring.
Welcome to a story of victory!
Q: Describe suffering in 15 words or less.
A: Suffering is Never for Nothing.2
Q: Describe your experience with pain and how it impacted your life, your development, your relationships etc.
A: It totally changed my life. My perspective towards a lot of things- how I choose to live, develop and being able to understand that each person is a miracle. I truly believe that life is a gift.
Q: What do you think of creating a hierarchy between physical and emotional pain? Is there a worse one? Why?
A: Honestly, I don’t think one is worse than the other. What I think the worst part of these two is when it is out of control.
Physical = Emotional
Emotional = Physical
If I had choose one certain pain that is the worst, it would be spiritual pain. The reason why I think spiritual pain is the worst is because it is the most important part of our life. With emotional pain, you can go to a psychologist and with physical pain, you can go to a physician. With spiritual pain, you can go to the One who is all- Jesus Christ. Suffering can bring you further or closer to Christ, the decision is yours because His arms are always open (1 Corinthians 16:23).
Q: Why do you think we suffer? Which was the cause? And is there a purpose to it?
A: I believe that suffering came from sin. We were created to have a personal and perfect relationship with God but Adam and Eve’s disobedience and denial led them to go against what God had already set (Genesis 3:1-6). Because of this, sin separated us from God.
Yes, I truly believe that there is a purpose to suffering. One thing that I always think of when it comes to suffering is that it is for God’s glory and our good (Romans 8: 17-18).
Q: Are there any benefits to suffering? If so, do they make it worthwhile or just bearable?
A: Personally, I think that if suffering is something that brings us closer to God and helps us to understand our purpose (to have a personal relationship with God and do what we are called to do) then it is beneficial. However, in all honesty, some people who are going through suffering find it hard to understand the purpose of it.
Q: Are you a religious person? Regardless of your answer, please explain how you think this aspect impacted your understanding of and experience with suffering.
A: Yes, I am a religious person and I believe that fasting, praying and reading Scripture helps a person to be able to change their way of understanding the in- depths and Biblical perspective on suffering. When I say by reading Scripture, the Bible is full of stories of suffering such as Jesus and Job.
Being able to read their testimony helps me better understand that we are not alone in our suffering. By praying, I understand that I must humble myself before Christ and trust His plans for my life. When I fast, I give up my time, my energy and my plans knowing that whatever God has for me is the best thing that can happen in my life.
Q: What do you think is the proper perspective on suffering? How should we address this inevitable reality?
A: I tend to think that suffering is for God’s glory and our good. Which means, I have to be able to humble myself at the cross and trust Him with my whole life.
She chose to remain anonymous, thus we shall not disclose any further information about her identity.
“I cannot say to you I know exactly what you are going through. But I can say I know the One who knows. And I’ve come to see that it’s through the deepest suffering that God has taught me the deepest lessons.” (“Suffering is Never for Nothing” by Elisabeth Elliot)