Life Full of Suffering? Don't Give Up! Here's the Key

Have you ever felt that life is full of suffering? Especially when problems and hardships keep coming one after another. Or, are you facing a problem that still has not ended? You have struggled for so long, yet there seems to be no light at the end.

You cannot hold on any longer. You have already done so much, yet the days still feel heavy. You are exhausted physically and spiritually.

Do not worry, you are not alone. Growing weary of life is natural and normal. Everyone has surely experienced it. Come on, let us find out how we should respond when we are at this point.

Life's Suffering Brings Salvation

Isaiah 38:17 Surely it was for my welfare that I had such bitter suffering. You have kept my soul from the pit of destruction, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back

In Isaiah 38 there is the story of King Hezekiah when he was healed from his illness.  It is told  that because of his pride, and his lack of gratitude to God, the Lord became angry, and Hezekiah was struck with a sickness that nearly took his life (2 Chronicles 32:24-25).

Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly (Isaiah 38:2-3). God heard his prayer and saw his tears, so He gave a miraculous sign. The Lord God extended his life by 15 more years (Isaiah 38:5). 

What can we learn from Hezekiah's story? The suffering he experienced changed him. Being healed from a serious illness made Hezekiah grateful. Because he had gone through bitter suffering, he humbled himself and repented before the Lord. Hezekiah remembered how he had forgotten the Lord who had been with him all this time.

The suffering Hezekiah experienced changed him. He was saved, and his heart was changed.

God Treats You as His Child

Life's suffering is not always bad. When life is full of struggles, problems, and suffering that seem never-ending, do not grow tired and weary because of it.

For example, discipline when you were little. Do you remember receiving punishment after doing something wrong? Indeed, punishment is unpleasant, but you learned about rules, discipline, and consequences. That pain shaped you to become better.

The same is true of the suffering we experience now. Consider it a test for moving up to a higher level of faith. A test to build character, such as patience, perseverance, and hard work.

Hebrews 12:5b-7 “My child, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly, and do not lose heart when you are rebuked by Him; for the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He scourges everyone He acknowledges as His child.”

So do not quickly feel that God no longer loves you just because He allows you to face prolonged suffering in life.

Wait for the Lord to Act

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD waits for the right time to show His love to you; therefore He rises up to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all who wait for Him!

Often we wonder, when will God answer our prayers? Why does God not simply give us what we want right away? Why do we have to wait? When will this suffering end? 

The prophet Isaiah says that the LORD greatly desires to show His love to us! Because God is just, and it is said that those who wait for the Lord are blessed.

When Job was in suffering, the Lord waited for the time when He would deliver Job from the suffering he was experiencing. And when the Lord acted, Job was not only delivered from his misery, God even gave abundant blessings far beyond the misery and suffering Job had experienced. God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before! (Job 42:10)

Isaiah 40:31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall soar like eagles with the strength of their wings; they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint

This verse says that when we wait for the Lord, we will receive new strength like eagles with their beating wings. We run, yet do not grow weary. We walk, perhaps climbing high mountains, crossing seas, and descending into deep valleys, yet we do not become tired. 

So, wait for the Lord in the suffering you are facing right now. You will not grow weary; instead, you will receive new strength every day!

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