When I suffer, I am invited to come closer to Our Blessed Lord – to nestle against His Sacred Heart and to rest in Peace there – while He bears my pain as His own on the Cross.
The other day, a friend of mine asked the question, “Why does God allow people to suffer?”
After all, God loves us – infinitely… So why is it that we are stuck here on Earth and asked to endure sometimes terrible suffering. Why is it that God does not take this suffering away from us?
And it is a logical question and one that I have reflected on many times in my life. After all, I have suffered in my own life. Perhaps my own suffering has not been as serious or significant as the suffering of other souls, but I – like every single soul that has ever lived – have suffered.
My friend’s question as to the purpose of suffering is a philosophical one, a question that people have asked trillions of times throughout the ages. And yet – despite all the time that we humans have had to reflect on this question – we are still asking the same thing… “Why does God allow us to suffer?”
Prior to my conversion – which occurred through Grace and no merit of my own – I did not leave myself much time to actually reflect on the purpose or meaning of suffering. Instead, I complained about it. Prior to my conversion, I spent my moments of suffering and anguish complaining about how terrible my suffering was. And because I was so fixated on the suffering itself. And in being fixated on the suffering I lost focus on the purpose of that suffering. I could not see any way that such suffering might have merit for me.
And in looking at the wrong thing, so to speak, I found that I was unable to benefit from the experience. And there is great benefit t be had of suffering.
You see, I have come to realise that God allows suffering – even terrible tremendously difficult suffering – to give chosen souls the opportunity to suffer with Him… When I consider suffering from a mere human perspective, I can see it as a terrible thing – a painful and exhausting sorrow that I cannot recover from. However, since accepting the Grace of conversion, I am able to see suffering for what it truly is – in its spiritual essence… And seeing that is marvellous. You see, suffering is merely an invitation to become close to God.
When God was crucified, He bore all sin and all consequence of sin on His own Body and on His own Soul. And bearing that, He took on all my suffering as it is – even right now in this moment – and He saw it and He felt it and He lived it. And so, when I suffer, I am invited to come closer to Our Blessed Lord – to nestle against His Sacred Heart and to rest in Peace there – while He bears my pain as His own on the Cross. And when I stop to think about it, what greater gift could God give to me than allowing me to suffer with Him – right there – on the Cross?
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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