How Suffering Affects Us   (Job 31)

Suffering is helpful when:

Suffering is harmful when:

We turn to God for understanding, endurance, and deliverance

We become hardened and reject God

We ask important questions we might not take time to think about in our normal routine

We refuse to ask any questions and miss any lessons that might be good for us

We are prepared by it to identify with and comfort others who suffer

We allow it to make us self-centered and selfish

We are open to being helped by others who are obeying God

We withdraw from the help others can give

We are ready to learn from a trustworthy God

We reject the fact that God can bring good out of calamity

We realize we can identify with what Christ suffered on the cross for us

We accuse God of being unjust and perhaps lead others to reject him

We are sensitized to the amount of suffering in the world

We refuse to be open to any changes in our lives