Expecting pain

“If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great Sacrifice of boundless charity.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola


I know that we're still in the Easter season, but that doesn't mean that all of our suffering is over.  Yes. Christ rose from the dead, but He didn't do it to relieve us from suffering.  It was so that we would embrace our sufferings for the sake of eternal life with Him. If Christ is our model, then we have to follow Him to the cross - because without the cross there is no resurrection. Christ showed us by example that there is meaning and purpose for suffering.


The Holy Spirit has been bringing up a theme of finding "joy in suffering" in many ways in my life lately. It's kind of ironic because I'm not really going through any specific or concrete suffering in my life right now. In fact I'm feeling a little complacent. But I've been realizing that something tragic doesn't necessarily have to happen for suffering to occur.  Suffering can just be the day to day sufferings, or inconveniences rather, that we are to find joy in.  Suffering means finding joy in eating burnt toast when you don't want to, or saying hi to somebody that drives you crazy.  At the end of our lives, we're going to be judged not only on our actions, but where our hearts are in these actions.  What are your motives and intentions for offering up these sufferings as joy?  Are you doing it for yourself or for the greater glory of God? 

Instead of asking, "Why, God?! Why me?!"...maybe a simple "thank you, I trust you Jesus" would be a better alternative.  Mother Teresa once said, "I know that God won't give me anything that I can't handle, I just wish He didn't trust me so much."  She said that because being a follower of Christ is hard. And you know what, nobody ever said that it was going to be easy!  It wasn't easy for Jesus to carry His cross to Calvary.  It wasn't easy for Jesus to be crucified.  It wasn't easy for Jesus to love His enemies.  And if we are going to follow Jesus, we should not expect it to be an easy road either.  Expect pain, because it is inevitable if you want to follow Christ. Don't be surprised when it comes.


Truth be told: Becoming a saint is going to be hard.  But it's worth it.  Accept your crosses with true joy, knowing "that produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint." (Romans 5:3-5) 


"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, I shall say it again, REJOICE!" - Philippians 4:4