Sunday, May 17, 2025 | Pastor Rob Vance

We suffer for many different reasons, and we don’t always know why. But here are some things we do know about God in the midst of our suffering.

Isaiah 53–God in human form was rejected.

God did a lot when Jesus suffered, and He does a lot for us when we suffer, too.

Psalm 34:18–He is close to the brokenhearted.

God uses our suffering for His purpose.

The first thing to know is that God shows up when we suffer.

If you are hurting, He is there.

He has a special presence in the lives of hurting believers.

It breaks His heart when we push Him away in our suffering.

When we hurt, God hurts, similar to how a parent is pained when their child is hurting.

Suffering turns us to the Lord like nothing else can.

“You never know if Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have, and when Jesus is all you have, only then will you realize that Jesus is all you need.” (Unknown)

Don’t wait for tremendous suffering to draw close to Him. Draw close to Him now, deny sin now.

We grow faster in hard times than we do in good times.

Romans 5:3–Rejoice in suffering.

We can rejoice in suffering because we know that God is working in the suffering and we know that we will grow.

2 Corinthians 1:4–God comforts us in our troubles. In turn, we can minister to those who have experienced similar things.

Matthew 5:4–Those who mourn will be comforted.