I actually selected this verse on suffering and hope yesterday but couldn’t bring myself to write about it. I don’t go easily into the realm of suffering and pain.
Romans 5:3b-4
. . . we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
I suppose I’m doing better. For years, my mantra was “avoid pain at all cost!” And as a result, I would run away from challenges and opportunities. I was afraid. Primarily, it was emotional pain that kept kept nipping at my trail, trauma from my past. I suspected, if I acknowledged the pain in any way, I would be overwhelmed. At one point, I though my body would explode. I had pushed down so much sorrow, disappointment, resentment, and fear, that the pressure on my soul was severe; it was like a geyser preparing to erupt. That’s chaos. It is not the road to hope.
What is suffering then? We recognize it most easily by example. Surely, the people of Haiti are suffering after the great earthquake. So many have lost everything including loved ones. They are sick, malnourished, exposed to the elements, and grieving all at the same time. And yet, we also know, that recovery from such a horrendous ordeal, can only be done through perseverance and hope.
Perseverance is the human piece of the equation. To get to hope, we must choose to press on. As soon as we decide that we will not give up, then hope can find purchase in the soul.
This is the story of Haiti as well. How else could a young woman survive beneath the rubble for 15 days and come out alive.
Hope, by its very nature, is hope in God to intervene. Since hope is about the unseen, the future, the unknown, only God operates freely there.
Why does God allow so much suffering? I don’t know. It’s a mystery. But God has provided a way out of suffering, step by step. Every time a person can make a choice toward healing, perseverance grows in strength. And as perseverance grows, that person’s character is formed and built on the backbone of faith.
In the past two years, two of my colleagues from work have died of colon cancer. Both walked the journey of suffering and although they died, their struggle was a testimony to the survivors who saw perseverance and character and hope never falter. They are the heroes. They are my teachers.
Meditations from Zion 
Irm, This post is so beautifully written and resonated within me. I never really thought about how crucial hope is in the midst of suffering, but now looking back, as I revisit last year by rereading my Carepage journal, I realize perserverance was only possible because of the hope my faith provided. So for me, perserverance was a by product of hope.
I too, don’t understand why God allows so much suffering, but this I do know: He will bring good from it, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. I experienced this promise up close and personal like never before this past year. Watching my beloved husband walk through the valley of the shadow of death and releasing him to spend eternity with his Savior, taught me so much about God’s faithfulness and the ongoing love and support of the body of Christ. Much like your two friends, my husband was an amazing witness, as well as, my teacher and my hero!
Thank you for sharing what the Lord is teaching you.
Amen. It’s about embracing the mystery.