Prepare to Suffer

Are you ready to suffer? It's inevitable, suffering that is. We're all human, we've all fallen; therefore, we all will suffer. The real question I wanna ask, though, is how do we respond.

It seems to be in the American culture, we like to run from it, avoid it as much as we can, even when we are already suffering. We block it out with alcohol, sex, drugs, or our favorite American fix-it-all Money. We stare at a screen that makes pictures so we don't have to think about anything. We call every friend we know so we don't have to be alone with our selves and our thoughts. We stay out till we're asleep so we don't have to deal with our problems haunting us as we lie in bed. Then, we wake up with only enough time to rush around and get to the places we need to be. Yet, in all reality, we suffer through it all and the full force will catch up to us.

I've read that eastern religions, sometimes including my own, embrace suffering. Some of these religions claim all life is suffering. If this is so, we ought to embrace life as what it really is. Unfortunately, these religions start out with the best of intentions and end up loving the suffering. Suffering becomes a pleasurable thing for them. If pleasure were what we're seeking this would be great. The problem is that this pleasure only covers the surface. It doesn't reach to the depths of our souls.

So the only response to suffering is to seek God. The answer to any problem is God, not because he solves these problems necessarily, but because he is the answer to our only problem. Our only problem is being void of God. Suffering is a tool. A tool that God uses to shape us. A tool which when used by our hands distorts and disguises what it touches, yet when used by God helps us realize our only problem. Everything is suffering without God, nothing is truly suffering if you have the only thing you truly want-GOD.