"Suffering makes us the most effective tool"
Something that I have been learning in mission life is the importance of suffering. That may seem weird to say because I think most of the time we think about suffering in two ways.
1. It just happens, it's part of life. or
2. We usually get aggravated with God for letting the suffering happen.
During these past few months of missionary training, I keep hearing of people I love and care about suffering back home. It has been very hard for me not to be there, present in all this suffering in my community.
I have been getting pretty aggravated with God. I mean, I'm giving up my life, to serve Him as a missionary, following His plan for me. Isn't this supposed to bring me joy? Can you at least give me a break here God? Obviously I know in missions there is going to be more suffering than I have ever had to face before, but that's suffering in missions. When it has to do with suffering for things going on here, it makes me think He is trying to tell me to just call it quits and go back home, back to school, back to my church. Especially when being away is causing even greater suffering.
Also, it has been making me upset that I'm going through this suffering because people I love are suffering. Why do they have to suffer, or go through these trials? Why does this have to happen, especially when it's dealing with faithful people who are active in their faith that are going through this?
Luckily, one of our missionaries gave a talk on this recently to put my perspective back in check. He said there are three reasons for suffering: to strengthen us, for unity between us and God/us and our community, and redemption. First He used an example of when His own daughter falls down or is upset or tired, the first thing she does is run to him, and when she doesn't, he is very sad. Thats all he wants, is for his daughter to always go to him when she is hurt or in trouble. So he can make it better. So she will be happy and not sad or in pain.
When I think of the times that I haven't run to God, that makes me sad that I failed Him in that. I'm His daughter. He wants me to come to Him first.
If I weren't getting upset or I didn't suffer about things back home, I think that would be a much greater shame. It makes me sick to think that for a second I was aggravated with God for this suffering. God doesn't make suffering happen. He just allows us to be affected by it! What a blessing that is!!! To care! To be affected by pain and brokenness!? Praise you Jesus for giving me this gift of compassion to suffer with pain and heartbreak and to be healed by it! And by healing from this suffering we are then strengthened by it.
I need to be stronger. I need to grow in this strength everyday. I am a missionary. I am going to see suffering and joy daily. I can't just pick the joy and ignore the suffering, or let the suffering run me back to my own comforts and security. And sometimes suffering is needed to save us. So that we will run to Him.
Pope John Paul II said in Mission of the Redeemer:
"Prayer needs to be accompanied by sacrifice. The redemptive value of suffering, accepted, and offered to God with love, derives from the sacrifice of Christ himself, who calls the members of His Mystical Body to share in His sufferings, to complete them in their own flesh."
Our suffering should never be wasted. Then it would be a shame. We are all going to suffer, especially when we follow God. But if we remember to run back to our Father, and unite our sufferings with Christ, He will fill us with Joy in the Suffering.
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
Colossians 2:24
I ask for a special prayer request:
for my youth group back home: Our Lady of Prompt Succor
for the Junior class of Holy Savior Menard Central High School
and for the Michiels family who just lost their 17 year old son, Chase
may God bring him into eternal life
