The Gospel gives human suffering deep, personal, and cosmic meaning, by connecting our pain to the pain of others and, finally, by connecting us to the very "pain of God".
Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus - a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.
But the real, tremendous truth is this: suffering serves no purpose whatever.
What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.
I would say that our patients never really despair because of any suffering in itself! Instead, their despair stems in each instance from a doubt as to whether suffering is meaningful. Man is ready and willing to shoulder any suffering as soon and as long as he can see a meaning in it.
It is here that we encounter the central theme of existentialism: to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.
That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful.
God never allows pain without a purpose.
Nothing is necessary except God, and nothing is less necessary than pain.
Clergymen and people who use phrases without wisdom sometimes talk of suffering as a mystery. It is really a revelation.
It does not follow that the meaning must be given from above; that life and suffering must come neatly labeled; that nothing is worth while if the world is not governed by a purpose.
That which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all-powerful and all-loving God. Our suffering has meaning and purpose in God's eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good.
