Why Suffering is Necessary

As we live out our lives, we are often met with both foreseeable and unforseeable challenges which we may refer to as "suffering". Suffering overall has a negative connotation and rightly so because it causes pain and discomfort. Some may consider academic endeavors as suffering and many will consider financial difficulties and deaths of loved ones suffering. Regardless of what suffering you face, I want to say that all of them happen for a reason. For me, various sufferings in my life had either made me learn more about myself, more deeply appreciate the things I have, or humbled me to a point I myself was no longer in charge of my life but God was.

Sufferings feel evil and unfair at times. We cry towards the sky, "Why does this happen to me!" If God really does exist, why is He inflicing so much pain on me who He claims to love all of us unconditionally? What I learned and realized is that all of our sufferings began from the day humans decided to disobey God's Word, specifically starting from the days of Adam and Eve. Now people may ask subsequently, "Why the heck do we all have to suffer for things our ancestors did, if they even existed? Is that really fair?" And the answer to that is how certain are you that if you were Adam or Eve that you wouldn't have done the exact same thing? Let's not be so prideful here because if we fall for the sweets, alcohol, drugs, fast food, scrolling through Instagram or Youtube, counting how many likes we get and other enticing things which we know are unhealthy for us, the Forbidden Fruit in Garden of Eden would've been a thousand times more enticing. It frankly would've been a matter of time before we ourselves ate that fruit. Now there is obviously a whole slew of questions that arises but we can discuss those in a seaparate post. Let's instead go back to talking about suffering.

We often forget that suffering can help us immensely grow our character, become stronger, and grow thicker skin. And it's not to speak lightly of these sufferings because they are in fact excruciating, but we have the ability to help others who are going through the same suffering and potentially help save people's lives as well. Suffering humbles us and kills our pride, and enables us to be grateful for many things we may otherwise take for granted. It is through this experience we can begin to sympathize and love others. This may well be why life is full of sufferings and life itself is suffering. It is so that we may ultimately come to love one another. As hard as it is to take suffering in a positive way, let's stay optimistic and really believe that everything happens for a reason because God has plans for us even in the midst of the chaos.