In this world, all of us experience a certain amount of suffering. We not only suffer from accidents and disease but we also suffer emotional pain which we generally refer to as anxiety or tension. no one likes to suffer, but suffering can actually work for our good. If it doesn't work for our good, then we suffer for nothing. In my life, there have been many times that I suffered from tension and anxiety - this eventually caused additional pain and suffering in my physical body. I didn't react to God - I reacted to the circumstances. The result was not spiritual growth - it was physical and emotional pain.

Suffering or pain is a warning. Whether it be a burned finger on a hot stove or a hurt that explodes in a resentful attack on our neighbor, pain is a sign that something is wrong. A little child with hurt feelings or a burned finger would certainly take that suffering to its mother or father and that is exactly what our heavenly Father wants His children to do with their suffering. A little child can receive comfort and important instruction about hot stoves from its earthly parents. In the same way, God's children can be comforted and instructed - provided they don't think they know as much as God and go their own way.

You may feel that your suffering has nothing to do with God. You may feel that you are a victim of circumstances and that you hurt only because of what other people do, but God says that he will make the circumstances work for our good if we love and obey Him. All children, whether they are your children or God's children, have a desperate need to learn to obey. Listen to what the Bible says: "Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, and the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day." (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)

It isn't that God wants to get back at us when we are disobedient. It is simply that when we obey Him, we are in harmony with the laws of His creation. In disobedience we not only break God's physical laws but we break His spiritual laws - laws that are just as real as the law of gravity. Out of obedience we can expect health, prosperity, and harmony with God and man. Out of disobedience we can expect disease, accidents, divorce, worry, rejection and all manner of human suffering.

The Bible says that we have to choose or decide to obey. Almost from the very beginning of man's life on earth, man has been inclined to disobey God and go his own way. The result has been all the suffering and pain and hurt that we see around us. We must tell God that we choose to obey Him - that with the power and wisdom He gives us, we will do so.

Like a little child, we need to be willing to obey and even want to obey. The little boy that is always telling others about his Dad is a boy that loves his Dad. You can be sure that if that boy really loves his dad, he will have a desire to obey him. There is the key. We need the desire to obey. This desire comes from love. Jesus said in John 14:15: " If you love me you will keep my commandments". He also said in the very next verse, that this loving obedience would result in the power of the Holy Spirit coming into our lives.

Friends, we need power to live this life. It has been promised to us if we will only love and obey God. The obedient child of God is promised the power of the Holy Spirit. (John 14:15-17) In Acts 1:8 it says " You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." there is a golden promise! Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and you will have power to live this life.

There is another golden promise in God's Word. In Romans 8:28 we read: "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose (loving obedience)." Not only some things, but all things - even suffering - become beneficial to us as long as we love God and seek to obey Him. That is a promise that guarantees that we don't have to suffer for nothing.

In every circumstance of life there can be an emotional, physical, or spiritual benefit. When suffering comes, it will either work for your good or you will be suffering for nothing. Is there suffering in your life now? Are you reacting to the source of your suffering or are you reacting to the love of God? The Bible says that if we love God, it is because He loves us first. There is the second key! Ask God to teach you to return His love just like the little boy that learned to love his Dad. That kind of give and take between you and God is communication - a loving personal relationship.

That is the very essence of the Christian life. If you are not experiencing this loving relationship with God, ask yourself if you have truly been born again of the Spirit of God. You can be this very moment. Simply tell God that you know you are sinful and separated from Him, that you know that Jesus paid the penalty for your sin when He died on the cross, and that you repent of your sin and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. "God commandeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)