-Proverbs 20:30
The Seven Fruits of Suffering shared by Bo Sanchez on yesterday's Talk 2: Why Am I Suffering? From the series Your Toughest Questions Answered at the Feast.
The Seven Fruits of Suffering
1. Hunger
"The enemy of great success is small success." Success can cause you to slow down, lose motivation, and become complacent. If you're satisfied with your good life, you might stop striving for a better one. Suffering reignites your hunger, inspires you, and pushes you toward greater success.
2. Harvest
When we suffer, we must pull away or walk away from our "bullies": toxic people, stressful careers, self-inflicted problems, bad habits, or addictions that affect our lives so we can build momentum. The greater the hunger, the greater the harvest.
3. Humility
There are two teachers in life: Teacher Trial and Teacher Triumph. Both are great teachers, but Teacher Trial is more effective. When you face trials, you become teachable. Triumph makes you proud, so you're less open to what life teaches you. You learn more through suffering because you're humble enough to accept the lessons that life presents.
4. Hardiness
You become more resilient and face greater challenges when you experience hardship. There is a direct correlation between the size of your comfort zone and your level of success. The larger your comfort zone, the more successful you become, as you will expand it to encompass new experiences.
5. Healing
You acquire wounds through suffering, and over time, these wounds evolve into scars. Your scars can inspire others who find themselves in a similar situation to the one you once faced. You become a wounded healer.
6. Holiness
There are times when there's nothing left for you to do but pray, even when you don't feel like praying. Personally, I'm glad we Catholics have memorized prayers. It reached a point when I didn't know what to pray for anymore. I was all prayed up, I said. That's when I learned to appreciate the power of memorized prayers. It's an instant relief when you no longer know what to do. Suffering pushes you to converse with God more often.
7. Heaven
In all your suffering on earth, you'll realize that your true happiness will only be in heaven.
"Tough times don't last but tough people do." You will outlive all your problems.
God is not a sadistic, selfish God who sits on His throne and takes delight when He sees His people suffer.
Our faith tells us that everything is part of His divine plan. All things are intended for our good. Let's focus on the prize, not the obstacles.We all have suffered (or are still suffering) at some point. The critical thing to remember is not why we suffer, but what we gain after we suffer; what the outcome of our suffering will be. The big message:
The greater the pullback, the greater the comeback.
If life is pulling you back and you feel like time is standing still, nothing is happening, and your suffering seems endless, it just means that life is preparing you for a remarkable comeback.
If God brought us to it, He will bring us through it.
What lessons have you gained from your biggest challenge?
2 comments
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ReplyDeleteI never understood the concept of suffering until I've gone through it. The Word consistently tells us to be patient, to endure, to persevere, and to be grateful in all our circumstances. So when you obey these, be prepared for the comeback because it is going to be grand!
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