let me tell you a story.

"in the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was job. this man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. he had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. he was the greatest man among all the people of the east" (job 1:1-3)

and then job lost everything. and i mean everything. his animals and servants, his house and kids, and shortly after, his health.

his response? let's look at verse 20:

"naked i came from my mother’s womb,
and naked i will depart.
the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

INSANE! i mean the dude just lost everything and yet remained upright, choosing to praise the one who gave him all of his blessings in the first place?! (not your normal response to suffering, is it?!)

a while later, however, his humanness surfaces as he begins to question why he, an upright man of all people, had to suffer. (that's more like it.) he questions God - and God challenges his outlook - basically reminding him that he knows nothing and God knows everything and can be trusted. ouch. (see chapter 38)

job's reflection a few chapters later? "i had only heard about you (God) before, but now i have seen you with my own eyes"; his suffering allowed him to see, and draw closer to, God, and ours can, too.

the bible says that "God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" and i can honestly say that i, like job, can attest to this. have i questioned why certain things have happened to me or why 'bad things happen to good people?' absolutely. i think it's normal to. but i can honestly say that i have experienced God's closeness and goodness on a deeper level because i have suffered, not because i haven't.

suffering can also draw you closer to other people.

the recent 'me too' movement is not only powerful because of the fact that courage begets courage, but also because there's a certain empowerment that comes with knowing that you're not alone in your struggle. there's comfort in numbers; sharing what you're going through allows others to either relate and connect to your story or at the very least, (try and) understand it.

i can recall many times where i have felt less alone simply because a friend reached out, picked up a phone, remembered my mom and i on mother's day, made my dad's favourite meal for me on (what would have been) his birthday, listened, took me out for coffee, prayed with me, held me as i cried, you name it.

suffering not only creates, equips, helps develop a deeper appreciation for life and produces perseverance (see previous blog), but it also has the ability to draw you closer to God and others, ensuring us that we don't have to suffer alone.