Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com
Charles Spurgeon (a preacher from London in the 19th century) said this about God’s pruning and refining of His people: “The apricot tree at 2828 Hill Heights Park was trimmed back so much I wondered if the branches and leaves would ever grow back, let alone the leaves. We ended up that next year having apricots coming out of our ears; Mom made apricot pie, jam, and we had it as fresh fruit, and there was still an abundance left for the birds.”
God uses suffering and pain in the lives of his children to prune us and refine us. Even Jesus Christ himself says in John 15 that God prunes branches so that they will produce “more fruit” (John 15:2). God is not pruning us to kill us; God is pruning us so that we would be more fruitful for Him. God, through the fire of suffering, is using trials to drive us to cling to Him more. Spurgeon also said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that strikes me against the Rock of Ages.” Any “wave” that “pushes me” towards Christ, is a blessed wave. Any fire that causes me to cling to Christ more, is a blessed fire. Everyone can nod in unison that fire hurts. However, it would hurt more to be separated from Christ without the trial than it would to be communing with Christ through the trial. We are better and safer in His arms in the fire than we are apart from His arms outside of the fire! So, we must let God use this fire to prune us, to purify us, and to bring us closer to Him. Don’t waste your pain, but let God use your pain for His good purposes! Determine, as much as is within you, to let this trial drive you to God and not away from God!
One thing I’ve noticed about myself is that it’s very difficult for me to listen to anyone who has anything to say about suffering who has not suffered much themselves. I’ll hear someone of a younger age talk about some difficulties they’ve been through (which is not small and is not insignificant), but then I’ll hear someone in their 80s or 90s talk about the many loads of suffering in their own lives, and then my ears perk up. It is infinitely wise for us to listen to those who have suffered in this life, and yet have not only kept their faith in God but are admittedly holier and better because of that suffering. There’s more to learn from God in a deeply-suffering-saint than 1,000 books on the problem of evil (as useful as those resources are). There’s more faith to be caught from a saint who has endured great suffering than all the Greek and Hebrew lexicons combined can say (as good as those resources are). By way of illustration, I had one friend of mine (in his 30s) tell me that he loved going to the Senior Adults Sunday School class because they were steadier, and much less shaken, in their trials than the classes with younger people in it. The perspective of older saints who have suffered is needed in our lives.
So, at least one purpose of God in your trial is that He is giving you credibility with others. God is giving you a voice through your suffering. God is not only refining you, but He is giving you a ministry due to your suffering. God is giving you a testimony through your suffering. God is making your voice a little bit “louder and authoritative” because of your suffering. Do not make light what a great God can do through your suffering. God still has great things in store for your life, and one proof of that is the suffering you are currently going through (or have already gone through) in your life. God is putting you through a trial so that He can give you comfort that you can, then, pass along to others (2 Corinthians 1:4-7).