The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I see that sufferers often have secret access to happiness.
I used to think Satan loved suffering, that it was his weapon
of choice against our faith.
But while he certainly (and viciously) tries to make the most of it,
I now suspect Satan secretly hates suffering.
He’s simply seen it draw too many people closer to Christ.
He has watched, for thousands of years, while God has taken all that he meant
for terrible evil and worked it for undeniable good (Genesis 50:20).
The apostle Paul, for instance, was imprisoned over and over, beaten with rods,
slandered by his enemies, flogged with lashes five times, stoned almost to death,
often deprived of food, water, shelter, and sleep — “in danger from rivers,
danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles,
danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers”
(2 Corinthians 11:26) — and yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10).
The chief of prisoners could write from the loneliness, injustice,
and distress of his cell,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).
Paul used to seem abnormal and extraordinary, even spectacular.
I thought he was an anomaly.
Until I began witnessing more and more men and women like him today,
braving inconceivable trials — conflict and cancer, betrayal and abandonment,
persecution and loss — with surprising joy in God.
They prove what we all experience in one way or another.
If we look to him when we’re thrown into the wilderness of suffering,
he will lead us to secret sanctuaries of peace, strength, hope, and even joy
