"Never pray for an easier life--pray to be a stronger person! Never pray for tasks equal to your power--pray for power to be equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will be no miracle--you will be the miracle" (Phillips Brooks, Harvard graduate and prominent preacher, 1835-1893). The role of suffering in the Christian life remains a mystery, yet it holds enormous potential for molding our own upward climb. Robert Kruschwitz, Director of Baylor University's Center for Christian Ethics warns, "We must be very careful how we assent to suffering, for it's as difficult and dangerous as walking on a knife-edge. We must avoid, on the one side, the wrong sort of passivity that glorifies suffering as something good in itself and, on the other, the wrong sorts of activity that would eliminate suffering at all costs."
The most commonly quoted Scripture passage on this subject is Romans 8:28: "All things work together form the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose." Many invoke this as a sort of Christian talisman. If I belong to God, here's my insurance against extended suffering and ultimate disaster. But is that its real meaning and proper application? According to Henry Blackaby, "God's primary concern for us is not our position on the corporate ladder, our retirement benefits, or our comfort. His ultimate goal for us is Christlikeness. He will allow whatever is necessary into our lives so we become like Jesus" (God in the Marketplace).
So, what does Romans 8:28 promise to us? Irregardless of how difficult and demanding the circumstances, by relying on God and responding toward Him rather than away from Him, God will see to it that we emerge on the other side of our situation more like Christ. When we decide and demonstrate that Christlikeness is more important than momentary ease and comfort, we are the miracle.
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