is suffering a good thing?

My heart has been in pain for almost a week and I haven’t been able to shake it. And it’s a pain I haven’t really experienced before, not like a normal heart pain. I’ve been able to goto God for comfort and receive temporary and wonderful relief, much more than television or other things I ran to when things hurt me in the past, but the heart pain does come back, and I’ve been wondering why, maybe this revelation I received might help people reading this.

I’ve been on an intentional path to manhood for a couple years now. Yes I accept myself as a good man, but I believe God has been taking me from good to better or whatever (I say this because people always tell me not to talk down on myself). I’ve learned to make hard choices, work hard at many projects and work them to completion, keep my area of influence in check, and many other things that I consider a great man needs to know. But one thing I have yet to “master” is suffering.

What do we do when we are in pain? For the longest time I’ve been smart enough to get out of doing certain tasks, work smart not hard, and it suited me. When I do have a hard time in life, I de-stress with tv, food, and yes God, but usually only resting in his presence. For the last couple days though I’ve spent long amounts of time in Gods presence and the pain continues to come back. Then it hit me. The pathway to manhood (and maybe womenhood) is suffering and raising above it and responding accordingly.

Think about it, Jesus suffered and was victorious, Adam suffered with having a tree but not being able to eat of it. Jacob suffered for 14 years for his wives and struggled with God for a name. I am coming to understand that this pain that I’m feeling right now, may be there to offer me a continual choice. To stay strong, to keep the course and not retreat to common reliefs of suffering. Suffering builds endurance and endurance builds character, and I feel that has been one of my missing elements as I continue through manhood.

Yes I believe God is the comforter, and he is a great one at that. But what if sometimes he does not want us to have comfort, but rather endure and build our destiny.

That’s just my .02 thanks for reading, let me know what you think.