The School of Suffering

Suffering is such an unpopular topic in American churches today, yet it is a prominent topic in Scripture. To walk the road of faith is to suffer (at least at times). Actually, simply to walk on this earth is to suffer. C.S. Lewis said, "To love at all is to be vulnerable." The human heart is as delicate emotionally as it is physically. I've been pondering this subject of suffering lately. Until a year ago, I could not claim that I had suffered.......struggled - yes, been hurt and disappointed - yes, gone through difficult seasons - yes, but suffered? No, not really.

The school of suffering is a harsh place with a rigid curriculum. Classes run all day and well into the night, often all throughout the night. Meals are unappetizing. Recreation is little to none. Pop quizzes can come at anytime and be for a totally different class than the one for which you were studying. For all its rigidity, there is no structured schedule. The bell rings to usher you to your next class while you are still responsible for learning the material in the first one. The school of suffering is also a rough school. There are gangs that are constantly trying to keep you from learning your lessons and ever graduating. They prey on you when you're at your weakest. They watch carefully for times when you are vulnerable and then they attack with full force. They steal your books and notes when you're not looking and then you have nothing with which to prepare for the test you know is coming. The school of suffering is not for the weak, the passive, the complacent, the lazy, (dare I say it?) - for the wordly. The school of suffering takes grit, determination and perseverance.

Each person's tenure in the school of suffering is different - some are only there for a few days, other's, a lifetime. Sometimes, classes must be repeated. Summer-school doesn't exist, because the school is year-round. There are no spring breaks, fall breaks or Christmas holidays. Sometimes you graduate from one school safe in the knowledge that you have learned all there was to know, only to be transferred to a different school where you must acclimate yourself to all new classes.

There are times when graduation day seems close and other times when it seems that it will never come. Yet, graduation remains the focal point, the goal. That day when you can don your cap and gown, walk across the stage and receive your diploma which states your completion from the school of suffering. The Headmaster will look you in the eye, shake your hand and proclaim, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You will never again have to enter the school of suffering."