Some thoughts on the purpose in suffering…
“I longed to experience His heart and all He is, to drink of the living water, to go deeper in Him. This longing came from the depths of my soul, completely cast down with nowhere else to go, and the Lord said, “Go deeper.” In my experience, going deeper, desiring to know God more intimately, brings your faith under trial, as seen in the story of Job. He was tried, and the latter part of his life was more blessed than his beginning. His faith was deeper, fortified and proven.
Perhaps you have cried out, “Jesus, I want to know you, are you real, do you hear my cries?” Don’t be surprised if, by way of an answer, He takes you aside into a furnace of fiery trials for a while. There is great purpose in our suffering, like a refiner of precious silver or gold, the heat is turned up as high as needed for the dross, the impurities of the metal, to float to the surface. To his delight, after he has skimmed the dross from the surface, the refiner can see his reflection and the precious metal is “proven to be real.” Jesus takes away the impurities that surface in our furnace of suffering.
Although a painful process, the Great refiner knows that this is necessary in order for His precious one to be all that she was created to be … beyond the refining process. He smiles, for now she reflects His glory. Perfected through trial and suffering, our Lord makes something precious, someone beautiful … so precious and so beautiful that priceless is your worth!”
Beautiful, Courageous You 