Personal reflections on the nature of suffering that occurred to me in the quiet of prayer today:
Suffering strips away the varnish, the polish, of who you want to appear to be. Both to others, and yourself.
Suffering forces you to shape your character, for good or ill, as well as to reveal the form of your nature which you have been crafting with each decision your entire life.
Suffering shows what your foundational bedrock is; how strong or weak the beliefs you have clung to really are to you. It makes you sort your priorities and relationships-- suffering means your soul has to face itself, what it values and believes. Suffering asks if you can look into the mirror of yourself, and will you be hearkened or sorrowed by what you find?
True suffering will not leave you unchanged; the crux becomes how you will use that suffering. Will you let God use it to refine and purify aspects of your character? Will you use the lessons that suffering has taught you, to reach out in compassion to others? Will you use that suffering to strengthen your foundation, or in bitterness use it to chip away all that you stand upon?
One must decide, sometimes by sheer force of will, to use one's suffering as a tool. A tool to improve one's dependence upon God. A tool to make one's relationships more meaningful. A tool with which to minister to others. A tool that will help one improve their foundation and character.
Otherwise, suffering will lead to bitterness. And that does neither the suffering person nor anyone else any benefit.
--Beth Haynes Butler
Suffering strips away the varnish, the polish, of who you want to appear to be. Both to others, and yourself.
Suffering forces you to shape your character, for good or ill, as well as to reveal the form of your nature which you have been crafting with each decision your entire life.
Suffering shows what your foundational bedrock is; how strong or weak the beliefs you have clung to really are to you. It makes you sort your priorities and relationships-- suffering means your soul has to face itself, what it values and believes. Suffering asks if you can look into the mirror of yourself, and will you be hearkened or sorrowed by what you find?
True suffering will not leave you unchanged; the crux becomes how you will use that suffering. Will you let God use it to refine and purify aspects of your character? Will you use the lessons that suffering has taught you, to reach out in compassion to others? Will you use that suffering to strengthen your foundation, or in bitterness use it to chip away all that you stand upon?
One must decide, sometimes by sheer force of will, to use one's suffering as a tool. A tool to improve one's dependence upon God. A tool to make one's relationships more meaningful. A tool with which to minister to others. A tool that will help one improve their foundation and character.
Otherwise, suffering will lead to bitterness. And that does neither the suffering person nor anyone else any benefit.
--Beth Haynes Butler
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