“Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered...” Hebrews 7:8. Our loving God does not initiate suffering; it is the consequence of our living in this world into which God put us – and often the consequence of our own foolish mistakes. If Jesus suffered and it was on our behalf and because of our sins even though it was perpetrated by the people who pinned Him on the cross: can we as God’s children through Christ’s redemption expect anything less?

We may not be able to understand how Jesus learned obedience through suffering, but He was obedient even to His final words while on the cross: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” He didn’t reject His suffering; nor did He rebel against it. He faced it, accepted it, and it became the means of redeeming human, sin-ridden creatures for God.

This, then, must be our answer to the problem of suffering. Face it, accept it – and use it. Allow it to teach us obedience, to make out of us people fit for the Master’s use and the means for healing and blessing to those who suffer about us.

May our Lord teach us how to accept and cope with suffering, how to accept our status as God’s beloved child and servant, how to embrace the validity and power that goes with it, and walk and serve in joy even in the midst of misery.