Quotes about Suffering

God may not always will for us to be physically healed in these earthly bodies or tangibly prosperous, but He always wills for us to be free from strongholds.

Blessing is defined by neither ease nor worldly possessions nor pain-free existence nor stock-market successes. Blessing is bowing down to receive the expressions of divine favor that in the inner recesses of the human heart make life worth the bother.

Not everyone in a stronghold of sin is having a good time. Many people who by the grace of God have never been "had" by the devil wrongly assume that all departures from godliness are nothing but defiance, rebellion, and proofs of inauthenticity They have no idea of the suffering involved when someone with a genuine heart for God slips from the path.

Sometimes all you could do for the suffering was to make sure they knew someone was suffering right there with them. Someone who had also felt stricken, and smitten, and afflicted.

Every time God delivers us, the point is ultimately to draw us closer to Himself. Whether we get to avoid pain and suffering or we must persevere in the midst of it, our deliverance comes when we're dragged from the enemy of our souls to the heart of God.

It has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. Philippians 1:29

The goal of life is not the absence of pain. It's the presence of glory. God's glory. And sometimes that comes most vividly with pain. Not only have I learned that pain doesn't kill; I have learned that I will never lose or be betrayed by the one thing with absolute power to destroy me—God Himself.

How like Jesus to start stitching a heart back together even as the knife was tearing it apart.

I sank to the foundations of the mountains; the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever! But You raised my life from the Pit. Jonah 2:6

Yes, Christ can bring fruit from His followers' incalculable suffering. But on this side of eternity, the point isn't making it worth it. It's about making it matter.

My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Philippians 3:10

My Child, I knew every difficulty you would face in life. I suffered each one with you. I loved you and had a plan for your life before you were born. This plan has not changed, no matter what happened or what you have done.