The blessing of suffering.

It is easy to be thankful for all of the wonderful things in my life.  I have so much to be thankful for between my home, children, husband, safety, warmth.... but I feel challenged this year to be thankful for the not so wonderful things in my life.  I'm learning to be thankful, truly thankful, for my sufferings.   

I recently finished reading sermons "On Wealth and Poverty" by St. John Chrysostom (who lived from 349-407).  As usual, it took me a long time to read through the 7 sermons, but spending the past several months with his words and challenges on my mind gave time for everything to sink in.  Learn, forget, learn, forget again, and eventually have a bit of it stick more deeply in my heart.  The sermons are all based on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16: 19-31).  On Thanksgiving day, I'm sure the rich man would have a long list of things he could be thankful for: riches, servants, comfortable home, fine clothes, good health, etc.  Lazarus, on the other hand, lived in poverty and hunger outside the rich man's house suffering from sores and being licked by dogs.  But it is Lazarus, not the rich man, who after death is comforted in Abraham's bosom while the rich man suffers torments.  It is Lazarus who has what is truly good and worthy of giving thanks.

We live in a culture that rejects suffering.  It makes earthly sense to see our suffering as a curse and our good times as blessings, and I do indeed thank God for the wonderful, positive parts of my life... but very often our suffering is also, or even more so, the blessing from God.  It is through the suffering that we are offered a closer walk with Christ and an opportunity to die further to the ways of this world and cling to the Heavenly Kingdom.  Through Lazarus' poverty and disease he was able to enter onto the narrow path with leads to salvation, while the rich man was blinded by his earthly wealth and chose the wide and easy road that leads to Hell.  

Overall I have a pretty easy life, especially when I consider the sufferings of humanity in the places of the world that are war torn and starving.  Yet, I find myself wanting to complain the moment a pebble gets in my shoe.  I hope and pray that some of the words of the sermons I've just finished will stay and grow in my heart, because it is more my nature to forget and want what will please me and be easy.  Instead, I want to remember to thank God for the pebble and allow it to transform my heart... to make it tender to other's sufferings, to make it cling to the things from above, to make it yearn for righteousness rather than pleasure.  I want to get better at giving thanks when God allows me to suffer, because He knows what I need.  In His goodness He will give me the valleys and hard places so that I might be transformed during this life, which is fleeting, and fix my eyes on the life to come.