There’s a torrential downpour going on outside, and the dark clouds seem to be rolling on endlessly. And there are those days when it’s pretty rainy on the inside too! Suffering is a fact of life on earth, and it’s up to us, with God’s grace, to figure out what to make of it.
The immediate, reflex response to suffering is anger, defensiveness, rejection. But as Christians who take the cross as the model to live by, we know there is another, more noble way. Simply put, this way gives a “yes” response instead of a “no”. We can say yes to the difficult things in life because we know there is value in them, that we experience them for a purpose according to God’s will. Patient acceptance is the way of showing love, and love for God in particular; by suffering with Christ we are transformed into true sons and daughters of God!
“By your patient endurance, you will gain life” (Lk 21:19).
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