Suffering And Hope 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. - 2 Corinthians 1:1-5"

A few years ago, I lay on a hospital bed, fully awake while a doctor conducted an endoscopy. To my horror, I watched her put a camera down my throat to inspect my stomach. Tired, scared, and without anaesthetic, the nurse struggled to hold me down as I riled around. Growing frustrated, the doctor called out to her staff, “get Grace”.

A moment later I felt a large lady hold me down and whisper to me, “it’s OK, darling, it will be over soon”. The pain did not subside, but, I did feel a tinge of comfort, a faint sense of hope. This lady saw my situation, sensed my discomfort, and reminded me that the procedure was momentary.

Throughout the New Testament we see the people of God walking through unthinkable suffering, but marked by an unwavering hope. And these two things aren’t detached. When we have a bad day, we’re often tempted to treat ourselves to make up for it – buying new clothes or eating something indulgent. But the comfort that God offers us today isn’t just a quick blessing to pick us up after a setback. God wants us to know hope in the midst of our suffering.

What does that mean? Hope is a weak word in English. We hope that the weather will improve by Saturday, we hope that our team will start scoring again. Hope is often about if something will happen, not a certainty that it will happen.

But our hope as Christians is solid. We’re not hopeful that things might be made right, we’re hope-filled because Christ will return in glory. One preacher puts it like this:

Imagine fighting a battle and realizing that your unit is starting to fall, one-by-one. As you become exhausted, you consider giving in and submitting to your enemy. But, over the hill you hear the trumpets of your army’s cavalry. Doesn’t that change your attitude to the fight you’re in? The infantry is coming.

Have you let God speak hope into your struggles? In 2 Corinthians Paul doesn’t hold back about how much the church had suffered. “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.” Surely it does no good for God’s people to suffer like this? But Paul goes on, “…but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”

God doesn’t promise us worldly prosperity when we are suffering, but he does promise something even greater: an intimacy and a dependence on Him, that you wouldn’t know

unless you truly needed it. Have you experienced intimacy with God in the midst of suffering? Where will you go when you face your next trial?

“On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” - 2 Corinthians 1:10