Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. — Romans 5:1–5

To be human is to suffer, and suffering is at the center of the experiences of people who lose hope and seek help from professionals who deal with pain and suffering. Moreover, hope feels desperately out of reach, often seen as a mirage that evaporates anytime a person with the sensations of their affliction becomes overwhelmed. Each person’s suffering is unique to the individual; each of us is unhappy — we suffer — in our own particular way. The reality is that we all suffer, even if we are often unaware of it. Suffering — while not God’s ideal intention — is a necessary element in our becoming our truest, most beautiful, most Heaven-ready selves.

It is an unavoidable reality of life. One that God plainly does not fully deliver us from in the time frame we would like, if ever. Yet it is a reality that he seems just as plainly committed to using suffering to transform us into who He wants us to become. However, it remains something that we most often choose to avoid if possible instead of accepting it as having anything to do with becoming who we actually long to be.

All of this is both very hard and very good news. It’s easy to imagine why it is hard, but to approach understanding how it could be good will require us to address what is needed for us to form deeply embedded, durable hope, not only in the presence of our pain but as a direct result of it. Personally, I have had to accept that there is nothing that can solve the source of some pain and suffering, but the reality is by depending on God’s Promises I know for a fact pain and suffering will not be a part of our eternity. There will be “No Tears in Heaven!”

Please pray for me, as I am praying for each of you and all God’s Children.