The Gift of Suffering

It was a Mother Teresa quote, I recall, which I am paraphrasing: suffering in and of itself is nothing. However, she went on to say that when suffering was for the passion of Christ, suffering is indeed a gift. I invite the reader to journey with me as God takes me on a yearlong journey of personal spiritual refinement and insight in the Word of God according to 1 Peter 4:12â€"13 and 2 Corinthians 4: 17â€"18. As we travel this way of suffering, the reader will see how God is faithful to His Word and how God always provides community so that the believer never walks alone. Additionally, the reader will come to see God personally involves Himself and is sovereign in the affairs of men. The reader will gain a greater understanding of the difference between being healed and being delivered and how both concepts can and should be appropriated by the believer, thus concluding that suffering for the passion of Christ is truly a gift. It is by the grace of God and His promise that many will be blessed, accept their healing, and be delivered through this testimony as they experience their own gift of suffering.

-- Clarence McCary