I once visited a friend in the hospital.

He was depressed about his prognosis and wondered why the Lord was keeping him alive.

He asked if we could pray. 

He then led us in one of the most beautiful prayers I had ever heard, entreating God to assist the poor, suffering, and hopeless, and remembering his family and loved ones with sincerity and hope. 

I thought, maybe that’s why the Lord was keeping him.

God was not finished with him yet.

So often we go through life's sufferings thinking only of the pain. But the Lord wants us to know there is much more at work.

The pain is not the purpose of our suffering. God does not want to hurt us. But often learning, growing, or the benefit of someone else is what's brewing just under the surface.

When Nelson Mandela was asked if he regretted the lost time of 20+ years in jail he said not at all, because it made him who was today.

Friends, every day we find ourselves experiencing some sort of suffering that attempts to bring us down - and to convince us that the pain is the only thing at work.

But St. Paul says don’t let it have the last word - for suffering produces endurance which produces character which produces the hope we need to trust that God is up to more than we can know or imagine.

Hang tough, God is not finished with you yet.