The Kind of Suffering Matters

The scripture teaches that God pays attention to the smallest thing, even our teardrops. David, who rode quite the emotional roller coaster in his life, put it this way in a prayer to God:

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record. - Psalm 56:8

But just because God notices our pain and suffering and tears doesn’t mean they are redemptive. Yes, they matter to God. But for us to move through the grief requires us to pay attention to. it requires us to go on our own journey. A wise author from the last century put it this way:

I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable. — Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Take a moment and read again through the list of things that Lindbergh suggests are needed to gain wisdom from suffering. Pick out one and talk with Jesus about how you might need that these days in an area of grief in your life.