What Has Suffering Taught You?

[bethdinsmore]

To the Non-Christian: We Christians care about you - that's why we come to this room. I hope that something we say in this thread may help to alleviate your pain. If I can help you individually, please know that you are always welcome to pm me.

To the Christian: In reading through the thread titles in here, it is obvious that many people who come here are suffering. This is a thread for you Christians to encourage those who are in pain. Please include not only what you've learned, but specific verses that have helped.

(I have started similar threads in the Christian forums, but I didn't want to leave out ministering to those who have not trusted in Christ as their Savior. We have all been there.)

May God bless you all, and thank you in advance for your replies.
Aloha in Jesus

P.S. While we are waiting for responses to this thread, you might want to look at Personal/Physically Challenged under this thread title to see what they had to say, it doesn't all apply to just physical, and there are 19 replies so far.

 

[bethdinsmore]

To see one thing I have learned, put your cursor over my CF character.

 

[Deb7777]

To the Non-Christian: We Christians care about you - that's why we come to this room. I hope that something we say in this thread may help to alleviate your pain. If I can help you individually, please know that you are always welcome to pm me.

To the Christian: In reading through the thread titles in here, it is obvious that many people who come here are suffering. This is a thread for you Christians to encourage those who are in pain. Please include not only what you've learned, but specific verses that have helped.

(I have started similar threads in the Christian forums, but I didn't want to leave out ministering to those who have not trusted in Christ as their Savior. We have all been there.)

May God bless you all, and thank you in advance for your replies.
Aloha in Jesus

P.S. While we are waiting for responses to this thread, you might want to look at Personal/Physically Challenged under this thread title to see what they had to say, it doesn't all apply to just physical, and there are 19 replies so far.

Hi Beth, what has suffering taught me? I suppose that I have to trust God will see me through, so many things we can't controll so we do the best we can and to bend with things so it doesn't break us. So many things we have to accept but we know this world is passing and if we but endure we will be with Our Father forever in his Kingdom, God bless.

 

[sethad]

suffering made it very obvious that there either isnt a god (no proof for a god or no god...but highly points at no god) or that god just really doesnt care

 

[bethdinsmore]

sethad - I can certainly see logic in your conclusions. I used to believe the same. It was only after I studied external evidences for the inerrancy of the Bible that I changed my mind. (Please let me know, BTW, if you'd like some websites).

And even after I trusted Christ as my sinbearer, I believed God was cold and cruel. Eventually I realized that I was seeing Him as a larger copy of my earthly father.
Since that time, I have been open to being taught by Him through suffering.

Here's kind of an over-all conclusion I came to:
*God definitely did not want us to suffer - He created Eden.
*But God did want us to have free will - we sinned.
*Everyone suffers because sin and Satan are present.
*God offers us eternal deliverance from this world, and we become hungry for Heaven as a result of our pain.
*Christians suffer on earth in order to make them more mature, closer to Christ, Christlike, and better servants; and so the church will grow in love as they share in suffering; and in order for the unsaved world to see that God can make them rise above the pain.

I have verses for these things, if you are interested. I'm not trying to debate you, as I think you realize. Just trying to give you some hope, friend.

I've been through and am going through a lot of things that have been pretty rough, but it has been worth it all, thanks to God. It has taken a lot of time for me to see that, tho. If you would like to see personal examples, see my website listed on my profile page.

And if you have specific questions or comments for us, please let us know.

Aloha in Jesus

 

[bethdinsmore]

(I'll keep adding things until others start posting more in here) This is from some notes of mine:

A. Most people that really know me say I have suffered much more than the average person, in many ways. I don't know about that, but I do know that God has made it worth it all. And here is what we can say, once we've been through the Refiner's fire:
"My misery became my ministry, and my mess became my message." (I believe this can be true of both Christians and non-Christians.) If you want to know just how wonderful that life can be, read the first part of Isaiah 61.

B. Another thing I learned - sometimes Christians are called soldiers. I studied and thought about that, and realized that soldiers are trained for one main reason - they are to do battle. In the Christian's case, that is a battle against sin and Satan, not against people. That is one reason why Jesus says we will share in the fellowship of His sufferings. Our rest from war will come in Heaven. But every battle is not ours to win - we are but one soldier.
2 Chr 20:15 ... This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.
(NIV)

C. Ever noticed how long-suffering in the KJV is translated patience in the NIV? (Gal. 5:20-21) Hmmm, wonder if there's a connection?

 

[bethdinsmore]

I really welcome discussion here, but meanwhile, I want to offer you all things that I and others have learned.

And here are some verses I've seen proven true in my life:
Rom 8:28-29
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
(NIV)

Another is this:
2 Cor 1:9
9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
(NIV)

2 Pet 1:3
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
(NIV)

James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
(NIV)

We are being counted worthy to share in His sufferings.

A lot of my pain has been emotional. After about three years of attending a Christian recovery group and hearing story after story that would tear your heart out, I asked the leader to compare people like us with people who had it a lot easier in life....was the pain worth it all?

He said to me, "In time, people like the ones here will have the deepest ministries, and be able to reach a broader range of people." And that's what Ephesians 2:10 is all about:
Eph 2:10
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
(NIV) (no matter whether our realm of ministry seems important to us or not)

Happiness is a choice, an act of the will. (Even if, in some cases, that means just choosing to take our prescribed anti-depressant, or choosing to believe God's Word rather than our feelings.) Like Paul, we can learn to sing in our prison. (Philippians 4:4-8)

 

[hoek]

suffering made it very obvious that there either isnt a god (no proof for a god or no god...but highly points at no god) or that god just really doesnt care

Ditto.

Suffering has taught me many things, but at least I can look back on some of the things that happened to me in the past and realize that without them I would not be who I am today...and I like who I am today. I never liked myself when I was in church - I suppose it didn't help how it was constantly drilled into me that we were worthless sinful selfish evil people who should be squashed like bugs - but now that I'm out of that situation, I feel so free. I wanted to die when I was forced out of my church...but now I'm glad it happened.

 

[bethdinsmore]

hoek -
what an experience that must have been! I thank God that He doesn't see us the way those people did. After all, it was love that sent Christ to the cross.

I was an atheist, then I trusted in Christ to be my sinbearer, and I attended a fundamentalist church that had those same tendencies. How glad I was to later find a loving home with Conservative Evangelical Christians - and there are a lot out there. I realize that you are not interested at this point in your life, but I pray that you find such a place someday, if you later decide to search.

God bless you, friend. Thanks for being open in here, and in your profile.
Aloha in Jesus

 

[L.A.W.]

bethdinsmore, bless is Yahushua that you came to accept him as your Savior. May you continue walking with Him.

In suffering I've come to see the truth in his words. The more I suffer, the more I see the truth in his words, and so the more I seek him. The more I come to know the truth, the more I'm set freed from the delusion of this world; walking in darkness. His words truly give life and light to the one who seeks Him.

 

[Kazahel]

Suffering has taught me that after all I have suffered I still live. And the more that I suffer the more I reflect back on previous times when I have suffered. Ive also noticed that when you suffer a great deal you arnt effected by smaller things that happen afterwards as much. You can kinda see past the pain because its not as great as other pains. Sort of. So if you lose a leg, the toe wouldve been of little loss, so when you lose the toe next time your kinda thankful for not losing both.

Also things you lose, when you get them back you cherish them more because you thought they had been lost. So suffering can also be a wake up call to not take certain things in life for granted. Anotherwords.. I lost my freedom at one stage(for half a year)over an accident when I had just turned 19. In that time I missed very simple things in life. Walking to my local shop became my dream of heaven to me. Truly. Even just the taste of simple foods. Everything became something I missed and everything around me was something new and 'worse'. I was hurting more than I ever have. I turned inwards as much as possible and swore I would always worship my freedom when I had the chance again. I learned alot about myself and others who suffer which has helped me to relate to other people when they do. All kinds of people. People are people in the end no matter what they have done hey.

Suffering teaches us many things if we listen. Pretty crummy way to learn though but what can you do. hehe

 

[xAtheistx]

To the Non-Christian: We Christians care about you - that's why we come to this room.

Certain non-Christians are, shockingly, also caring. They wouldn't be on a website called "Christian Forums" if they didn't, would they?

 

[hoplessss]

Certain non-Christians are, shockingly, also caring. They wouldn't be on a website called "Christian Forums" if they didn't, would they?

^ hah yeah, I honestly have to look and see what religion people are in their little info thing all the time cause its hard to tell if I'm talking to a believer or not. Sometimes Christians can be nice but then there was one point where my best friends were atheists...it's kinda funny, no offense.

Well I dunno if you want someone to answer who's already done suffering or still suffereing, but in all this crap I'm going through I've learned that God probably doens't exist...or at least the one in the Bible doesn't, and that the only way to really start to enjoy things will probably in death since there won't be anything to do since alot of the time all I want to do is sleep and do absolutely nothing. That would be really really nice. But then at the same time, everyone looks down upon those who try to achieve happiness through death because they're taking the "easy way out" and not sucking it up cause they're wimps or whatever. It's a messed up world.

 

[bethdinsmore]

I used to be an atheist, and, no modesty intended, I think I was a pretty nice person then. Lots of them are great people. Am I a better person because I'm a Christian? No, just forgiven. Does God love me more because I trusted in Christ to pay for all my sins? No - He has no favorites. (John 3:16)

Aloha in Jesus, friends

 

[Zen_Woof]

To the Non-Christian: We Christians care about you - that's why we come to this room. I hope that something we say in this thread may help to alleviate your pain. If I can help you individually, please know that you are always welcome to pm me.

To the Christian: In reading through the thread titles in here, it is obvious that many people who come here are suffering. This is a thread for you Christians to encourage those who are in pain. Please include not only what you've learned, but specific verses that have helped.

(I have started similar threads in the Christian forums, but I didn't want to leave out ministering to those who have not trusted in Christ as their Savior. We have all been there.)

May God bless you all, and thank you in advance for your replies.
Aloha in Jesus

P.S. While we are waiting for responses to this thread, you might want to look at Personal/Physically Challenged under this thread title to see what they had to say, it doesn't all apply to just physical, and there are 19 replies so far.

Hello bethdinsmore.

Have you posted this on the non-christian section of apologetics? I'm sure it would get a rousing response. (But you'll probably need to suit up in your armor before you read them. Sadly.)

I'll refrain from answering since this is a support thread from Christians to non-Christians.

Metta,
ZW

 

[bethdinsmore]

A good suggestion. I'll pray about posting this in there. I agree about the armor - my armor is quite dented and scratched from being in there before. Rather than "Discussion and Debate", it's more like "Fight and Feud".

If you have comments you would prefer not to post in this thread, I would be happy to hear from you in pm, if you wish.

Aloha in Jesus

 

[matthewgoh]

When man suffers, he has 3 choices;

1) Seek God
2) Seek Satan
3) Help himself

I'll skip option 1. Those who chose option 2 are being deceived by Satan. Those who chose option 3 are because they are not convinced that God exist.

So overall, sufferings do have a purpose.

Just my thought.

 

[thenumb]

Suffering has taught me two valuable lessons:

1.) It can always be worse
2.) Everything happens for a reason

 

[Zen_Woof]

Suffering has taught me two valuable lessons:

1.) It can always be worse
2.) Everything happens for a reason

I have a child with special needs and realized very quickly that his problems are nothing compared with the problems of others. But I also learned that parents of children with even more serious needs are glad that their children are alive!

I think suffering teaches us that there is more to life than just our small needs, that we can grow, and that we should serve others.

Preaching over now.

bethdinsmore: Happy Birthday! Thank you very much for the reply.

Metta,
ZW

 

[PapaLandShark]

Briefely:
Suffering has taught me that my ways were not the best ways. Following His ways has proven time and time again, despite the pain of some of it, to be the best thing I could have ever done. I'd never known true joy. Never known true sorrow. Never known a whole raft of things or understood them until I came to Him and said "Father forgive me...I have sinned against You. I lay my life at Your feet. Do with it as YOU will."