Suffering Reflection

I finally woke up feeling better than I had the day before and I instantly knew the plans God had for me. He gave me an unbelievable amount of strength that I had no idea one person could obtain. I finally accepted that adversity was inevitable and I was no longer going to let it break me. Overcoming adversity is one of the biggest challenged in life and when we finally have the courage and strength to face it; then we will see the purpose God has for us. God will never give up on you and he will never leave your side. I continued to pray until I was no longer in such a bad state of mind. I learned to accept what God had put me through at such an early age as the best blessing I have ever received. Suffering built perseverance and hope that I never thought I had, he took my dark time and turned it into a gift. My experience is not a misfortune, it is something God gave me to be able to serve others. In times of difficulty, no one knows what God is doing with their life but he made me realize what I was capable of overcoming if I trusted in him and never lost faith. He turned something so terrible into something amazing. This showed me that he is always there even when I feel alone and he is never going to leave me in a hard time. I am blessed to be able to be there for others in times like this and give them advice or just be someone to talk to. This experience has influenced me to take on a career in psychology so no one ever

Most often, students ask me how I cope with such variety of situations especially with dying patients, or telling a family member that there is nothing more to do. I immediately tell them that I fully rely on God for my strength and compassion. I cannot image a day without constant access to God for strength and comfort by simply praying silently throughout the day. Sharing situations that I have witnessed opens the door to plant a simple seed of faith and that there is always hope even in times of pain, suffering and sorrow. “Hope is essential to life.” (Townes 2007) With repeated exposure to tragic events often resulting in death, it is easy to question God’s

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all? I ponder over this question as I stare vacantly at my reflection. It shows myself at the age of four, wobbling back and forth like a rocking chair, nerves and empty thoughts racing through my mind as I stand at the very front of the line on the first day of kindergarten. It shows myself ten years from now in a stable job as a successful lawyer on a more busy than average day. It shows me my struggles, my doubts, my anxieties, and my failures. It shows me my successes, my euphoria, my dreams, hopes and aspirations. It shows me my teachers, my peers, my culture, religion, my friends, my mother, my father, my brothers. Myself. I see the world,

I feel strongly and I am convince that the fact that I had a headache and blocked sinuses affected my learning during the course time.

A lot of times people think that if we are good enough Christians that we would never go through tough times. It would be so wonderful if God would simply promise to us that we would never go through difficult times. Yet we know it’s just a part of it, it’s just a part of life. Psalm 23 does not say to us, “God will keep us from danger,“ but instead it describes that times will come, and they come for all of us, when we do feel like we are walking through a dark, dangerous valley -- a “valley of the shadow of death.” Perhaps even now in the grief we feel today feels like a dark valley… But what the Word of God does make very clear is that as we move through

I have not being asked to cross the Mississippi river during a deadly fall, nor do I have being persecuted in the same way the pioneers were persecuted, but my Heavenly Father requires me to exercise enough faith in Him to endure every day regardless of my anxiety, depression, and sick body. It is in my infirmities that I come to know God, but above all that I come to feel His love. His love and my testimony of His work is what sustain me. I echo Paul’s words: “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in necessities, and distresses for Christ’s sake… for when I am weak, then I am strong.” I have the strength to keep enduring because of my Jesus, the One who suffered all things and comprehend all things. How grateful I am for my Savior and for His Atonement

I've suffered plenty in my pre christ following life, but it was all in vain because it was for doing bad. When times are good we really don't think about our choices, our life. But when we suffer, we grow. It tests us to see if we really want this life. We realize things about ourselves. Are you brave or are you brave when things are easy.

My close friend Michael has a terminal disease. My aunt is estranged from our family. Another friend of mine struggles deeply with alcohol. None of us are exempt from hardship. It causes me great pain to accept personal affliction around me. Despite a lifelong commitment to Christianity, I am not sure that I ever reconciled the presence of suffering around me. After studying nearly every religion, the Priest discovered that Christianity answered his true questions about suffering. It was not God's intended will for us but became a part of our experience because Adam and Eve chose disobedience. Jesus eternally paid for our sin through His death, and when we suffer, God suffers. His repayment to us for our anguish is the gift of eternal life in heaven, free of all struggle. This idea resonates deeply within me. Knowing that God shares my pain, my trust in Him has flourished. It gives me peace to know that I follow a God who transforms the burden of my suffering into something

After about a month since my uncle's funeral I saw my father, (my uncles brother), reading an article about a woman named Thea Bowman. Casually I asked who she was, and my father exclaimed to me what an incredible person she was and how she has helped him with his brothers death. I took iPad on which he was reading the article and read about this incredible woman. I learned about he battle with terminal cancer and how she dealt with her suffering. One of her quotes stuck out to me, it was, "I know suffering gives us a new perspective and helps us clarify our real value." Sister Thea believed that the significance of suffering isn't why it happens to us, but how it can help us transform into a more loving person, and how it can be our source of redemption. This inspired me to see historical figures dealing with their suffering, I found a perfect candidate, Jesus. Jesus dealt with suffering by forgiving the sins of people and calling them to conversion. I learned that Jesus also told his disciples to shoulder the cross of loving service, suffering for justice, compassion, and love. Now that I learned about how others have dealt with their suffering properly, it was my time to deal with my own suffering, and maybe even transform

Far more often than not, life is full of suffering. Pain is a fundamental part of life and living a Christian life isn’t going to guarantee a painless life, but rather the opposite. In my life, spiritual formation leads to the deciphering of the struggles in my life, though the discipline of silence. Our culture in this day and age is shying away from the idea of isolation and solidarity. My life is a mess of pain and more often than not, the culture of the world will

The word of God has brought me through some of the most difficult times in my life. Almost three years ago now, my family suffered a great loss. It really affected me. There was a point in time when I let the pain and guilt of that tragedy eat me up. God brought me out of that dark place I was in and He made my faith stronger. God revealed to me that He has a greater plan. Today, looking back I see how God used that tragedy to help grow my faith in the midst of the hurt. Now I can talk to and be there for people who go through the same thing. Where we are in life, when we are in God’s will, is exactly where we need to be!

Further, we are all to take our sufferings with an attitude that is not demeaning, but with a positive mindset. In Hebrews 12:4-7 we can see this. Through our suffering, God disciplines to further use us as instruments. Thus, we shall take suffering as a gift and persevere with patience (James 5:7-12). This is also repeated in James

Suffering is part of human life. Some kind or the other suffering we will face every time in life but we should not be discouraged. We have a great example for suffering in Jesus Christ who suffered a lot for our sake. It is because of His suffering that we got salvation. The same way every suffering has a positive power. When we suffer for others’ sake it helps us receive God’s favor. That is why St. Paul was assured by God that he will have God’s grace while he should take the suffering

Whether we are aware of it or not, everyone is in or needs to be in recovery from something. Whether it’s childhood issues, events of death, relationship difficulties or random events one has no control over, we aren’t going to make it through life without some type of tragedy and difficulty. Here is this verse is a great story, after rescuing a man from wicked, violent, and destructive demonic oppression, Jesus says, “Go home to your friends and tell them.” Likewise, can anyone of us, really see the power of God in our lives without letting His light shine

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?