God, what good can come of all of this suffering? What are you doing in it? How long until it’s over?

These are questions we have probably all asked ourselves at one point or another in seasons of suffering. In this conversation we are reminded about some important truths about God in our hardest seasons. Although we want to see His plan and purposes in the now, we don’t always know the overarching ways He is working. We might be able to see a few ways He is working in this season, but He is also working in a thousand ways we can’t. Those thousand ways might not be clear today or on this side of eternity, but He is still weaving them into His big picture. 

In this conversation we are also reminded that when we have known and received His comfort in times of suffering we are able to pass it on to others. There is a sweetness in your suffering that you will not gain any other way, and to be able to share the comfort of Christ we have been given can be a precious gift to someone in their own season of suffering. 

We all know people who have suffered profoundly and now they walk with Jesus deeply. We can hold on to hope that one day we will be able to tell our story without pain and shame, solely to put the glory of Christ on display. Until that day, we can continue to run to God in our suffering and trust that He sees us, hears us, and is near to us in it all.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineers and producers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zachary Tate Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Known Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne. Thank you for listening to our fifth season of Conversational Counseling about suffering.