The Upside to Suffering

I have always hated the thought of suffering. The big stuff kind of scares me. You know....someone I love dying, having some terrible disease, or facing major persecution. But I am beginning to see, just the corner mind you, of the good side to suffering. I am contemplating how it brings us closer to God. I wasn't sure it made sense to me till yesterday a couple of things helped to make that clearer.

My kids have been sick. They are big kids these days and having them sick doesn't entail all it has in the past. But my energetic 9 year old boy, Bryan, who is the most likely to forget to kiss Mama goodbye, crashed. He just needed a nap so badly. He wanted to snuggle and have me read him a book. Not that he doesn't like that sort of thing on other occasions, but it's not his first choice for an afternoon activity on an average day.

It reminds me of when Jessica was little. She was my shadow. She was happy as long as she could see me. But when she was sick, she wanted to be held. We read stories and watched movies, over and over, but she wouldn't do that alone. She wanted to be on my lap. Then she was content and it didn't matter how yucky she felt, life was okay and everything was going to be fine.

Being sick and feeling bad pushed my kids to want to spend extra time with me. It reassured them that life was still going along well and comforted them. Wow! That's how I am with God. When things are good I spend some time with him and I think of him from time to time throughout the day. But when things get tough I need him right there. I'm talking to him for long periods and just taking comfort from his promises and his word.

So, I'm finally getting it, to a small degree. Suffering has an upside. It's getting to spend extra time with my heavenly father!