When we think of the love that our mother and father have for us, it is hard for us to understand that a greater love than this exists. In the midnight praises we say to God “which mind or which speech or sound can attain the unutterable expression of Your love for mankind.” (Thursday Theotokia) While we know that the level of love that God has for us is truly unparalleled, it is hard for us to reconcile this with the other fact that God has promised us a life of hardships, persecutions, and calamities. It is not hard for us to understand that a life with God produces these things, but it is hard to understand how our compassionate Father watches us experience all of these things. If a little child falls down, scrapes his knee and begins to cry, his mother will run to him, embrace him, and wish the pain he is going through on herself not being able to watch her child suffer. How then is God able to bear to watch all of his children suffer so much heartache and not reach His hand down to help?
Let me use a similar example to try to answer this question. If that same mother and her son are at the doctor and he needs to be given a shot, will the mother not allow the doctor to give her son a shot because the sight of her son suffering is too much to handle? Of course not, this shot – no matter how painful – is protecting her son. This momentary and current suffering is essential for this child in order to avoid a much worse suffering in the future. I’m sure you’re all starting to understand how our beloved Father regards these tribulations we endure. There is no negative emotion that we go through, that our compassionate Father does not experience with us. In the Liturgy of Saint Gregory, we say that God, as a true father labors and travails with us. There is no question that God is concerned with our pains, however there may be a lingering question of why this suffering and tribulation is necessary. In the example with the doctor, the shot along with the pain of receiving it was necessary so that this child is protected from contracting a disease that will most likely cause much more pain then the pain of the shot, or even death. So what is our tribulation in this world protecting us from? Why is it necessary?
In a very simple way, tribulation is ultimately protecting us from having a shallow relationship with God. When we have no pain and no tribulation, there is no need to depend on anyone, we are sufficient with ourselves. Now when there is little tribulation, we can turn to our friends, our family, and other things that help us feel secure. How about when the issues keep piling up, and the world seems to be against us, there is nothing that people can do to ease our pain. We start to feel trapped, no one can help us, who shall I turn to, does God even care about me? Through tribulation we are made so weak and so vulnerable. Everything we had as a security, that we can turn to has failed us, we are alone, “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life.” – John 6:68–69.We all know the image of our Lord knocking on the door, what do you think will happen when we stop depending on all the different things we usually rely on and finally open the door to our Lord. Because we are in desperate need of Him and because he knows how much we are suffering, Will he come inside and have a meal with us, or ask us for a cup of water? Of course not, He will barge in, hug us so tightly and finally be able to comfort us and heal us.
Let me try to prove this point with examples in the bible. There are countless stories of people who our Lord Jesus Christ healed. Many of these people endured great pain and sufferings due to their sicknesses. What does our Lord say when He heals them? I’m sorry you had to go through that? No, instead He says “But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” – John 9:3 God allow your work to be shown in another way, a way that doesn’t hurt us! It cannot. Transformation through tribulation. When Saint Paul practically begged our Lord to take away his infirmity, our Lord said no, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” How great is it when we become dependent on God and not on others and we are able to say these words to Him. Truly oh Lord your grace is sufficient for me. We always imagine that a Holy life, full of joy, is one that is free of problems and pain. Truly my friends, the state of joy that we are called to live in is no stranger to suffering. Not only is it no stranger to it, but also impossible without it. Let me leave you with one last thought, let us contemplate on the verse that says “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18 This verse strikes me because it does not say that our sufferings will not be remembered or won’t matter because of the Glory waiting for us. But they are not worthy to be compared to the Glory that will be revealed in us. May God grant all of us the eyes to see Him alone, to run to Him alone, and to take refuge in Him alone.
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5.
This is absolutely amazing thank you