I wonder if I have ever truly suffered. When Paul wrote the words above, he wrote as someone who understood suffering, intimately. He lived in a world that was hard, full of swift death and prolonged hardship. He bore the marks of suffering on his scarred body.

And he rejoiced in it!

I wonder if I have ever truly suffered. And yet I see in passages such as this that suffering for Jesus can produce some fruit that makes little sense in a natural man’s context, and yet makes perfect sense when placed in the context of supernatural God’s loving work in the life of one of his servants.

Suffering produces endurance. And character. And hope. And waving goodbye to shame, forever.

Only through God’s love being poured into the heart of one of his servants could intense pain, want, and hardship produce these gems.

I wonder if I have ever truly suffered. I don’t think I have. In my flesh I am quite sure I don’t want to. Yet I hope that I am made ready for it, when it comes.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings . . .”