Broken Pieces: Thoughts on suffering on the anniversary of a friend's death.

A wise woman told me this week that "the broken pieces of our story is where the light shines through."

Fourteen years ago, today, my life and worldview were smashed into pieces by the tragic murder of a friend. The English language is devoid of words to describe that experience (and several other things I have faced in the years since), but this anniversary I feel prompted to share some thoughts about it.

Life is a teacher. We can choose to ignore her or to learn from her. Here are some things that life and suffering have taught me over the years:

1. You will make it through. In times of deep suffering and struggle in my life, I have questioned whether I was strong enough to survive. It's pretty evident by the fact that I'm writing this that I did. The reality, though, is that I wasn't strong enough to survive those things. God carried me through them and sent people to care for me when I was unable to care for myself. He is our strength in our times of weakness. 
2. You are not alone. One thing that has remained constant in very different scenarios of suffering in my life is the presence of God. He truly is near to the brokenhearted. I have never felt closer to Him than in times of suffering and pain. That fellowship is the thing that has carried me through experiences that no human being can comfort. 
3. God can use your pain to help others. I love John Piper's book and often used quote, "Don't waste your life." When he had cancer, he wrote another book called "Don't Waste Your Cancer." In that same line of thinking, I don't want to waste my pain. One of the beautiful things about our suffering is that God can use it as a platform from which to speak into the hearts of other hurting people. That has brought me great comfort as I look back over the painful parts of my story. God loves to use us in His work in the lives of other broken people like ourselves. Our pain doesn't have to be wasted. 
4. Suffering is part of the sanctification process for Christians. No book could ever teach me what I've learned from seasons of suffering. In the end, it has made me who I am today. As much as I didn't want to go through any of it, I know I am better for it and closer to God because of it. In many ways, it has solidified my theology. As Christians, our hearts long to be more like Jesus. As hard as it is to say, we become more like Him and know Him more intimately as we enter into suffering as He did.
5. Jesus came to make an end to our suffering. This is something I cling to when I can't understand why God is allowing suffering in my life or the lives of people I love. A good God can't look on suffering and turn His back. We see Jesus in John 11, weeping at the death of his friend Lazarus. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, so we know how God responds to suffering from Jesus' response. This life passes in the blink of an eye but there is an eternity waiting where those who put their hope in Jesus' finished work on the cross can rest in the promise of Revelation 21:4. A day is coming where He will wipe every tear and make the wrong things right. 

I hope this post will be an encouragement to someone who is suffering. You can make it through whatever you're facing and your suffering has a purpose. God really does use the broken pieces of our story for ourselves and for those around us. Even if you are not able to see that today, I pray He will bring you to that place.