What is suffering?
Before I begin, I want you to know that I am making some generalizations in some of my statements below that do not apply to everyone or everything. These are only my thoughts and reflections and I have much more to learn!
Something that has been on my mind lately is the word suffering. Often, while walking down the street in Sierra Leone or in Ghana, you will see people in the road, selling water, plantain chips, biscuits, phone credit, and much more. You can almost buy anything you need from a car window. But, I often find myself thinking "their job must be miserable." Standing out in the hot blazing sun all day, walking in and out of rows of cars every time the light is red, trying to make a small living. Some would look at these people and say they are suffering. It is easy for even myself to think these people must be suffering if this is what they must do to earn a living. But the street sellers on the street might look at someone who is paralyzed and begging on the street as suffering. Maybe the word "suffering" can be a relative term. Do these people consider themselves as "suffering?"
Many times I focus on physical suffering because it is what I can see. People suffer from physical ailments, lack of clean water, no food, and much more. Many people suffer financially which affects the physical suffering of a person. But I also believe that people suffer emotionally. Maybe they have everything they need physically but emotionally they are suffering. People also suffer spiritually in many different ways. Something that I have often run into in Sierra Leone is this idea that in America, people do not suffer and life is somehow perfect because we have money. Maybe we are not suffering as much financially or physically as people are in Sierra Leone but we suffer in other ways. Not only do some people believe that money will decrease your suffering, but becoming a Christian will also do the same.
There is this idea that if you become a Christian, your life will improve and you will not suffer. This has something that has challenged me about the church in Sierra Leone and in Ghana. I know that this is an issue in the U.S too but it has really caught my attention here. God did promise that if we follow him with our whole heart, mind, and strength, he will provide all our needs. But God never said, if you follow me with your whole life, you will not suffer. Just think of the many characters in the Bible who were following Christ but suffered greatly.
Everyone in this whole world is suffering in some form or some way, some suffer in more extreme ways than others. We are all broken people but what is so beautiful about being a Christian is that through this suffering, we can find joy and redemption. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5
I read a book over Christmas break called The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven and in the story was a quote from Viktor Frankl who survived the Nazi prison camp. He wrote "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances to choose one's own way." Our attitude determines how we will go through times of suffering.
When I was younger and my parents would take me and my siblings to something we did not want to go to, they always said, "you just have to make it fun!" I hated it when they said that but looking back, it makes sense. It is your attitude that can determine so much of your life.
Something that has been on my mind lately is the word suffering. Often, while walking down the street in Sierra Leone or in Ghana, you will see people in the road, selling water, plantain chips, biscuits, phone credit, and much more. You can almost buy anything you need from a car window. But, I often find myself thinking "their job must be miserable." Standing out in the hot blazing sun all day, walking in and out of rows of cars every time the light is red, trying to make a small living. Some would look at these people and say they are suffering. It is easy for even myself to think these people must be suffering if this is what they must do to earn a living. But the street sellers on the street might look at someone who is paralyzed and begging on the street as suffering. Maybe the word "suffering" can be a relative term. Do these people consider themselves as "suffering?"
Many times I focus on physical suffering because it is what I can see. People suffer from physical ailments, lack of clean water, no food, and much more. Many people suffer financially which affects the physical suffering of a person. But I also believe that people suffer emotionally. Maybe they have everything they need physically but emotionally they are suffering. People also suffer spiritually in many different ways. Something that I have often run into in Sierra Leone is this idea that in America, people do not suffer and life is somehow perfect because we have money. Maybe we are not suffering as much financially or physically as people are in Sierra Leone but we suffer in other ways. Not only do some people believe that money will decrease your suffering, but becoming a Christian will also do the same.
There is this idea that if you become a Christian, your life will improve and you will not suffer. This has something that has challenged me about the church in Sierra Leone and in Ghana. I know that this is an issue in the U.S too but it has really caught my attention here. God did promise that if we follow him with our whole heart, mind, and strength, he will provide all our needs. But God never said, if you follow me with your whole life, you will not suffer. Just think of the many characters in the Bible who were following Christ but suffered greatly.
Everyone in this whole world is suffering in some form or some way, some suffer in more extreme ways than others. We are all broken people but what is so beautiful about being a Christian is that through this suffering, we can find joy and redemption. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5
I read a book over Christmas break called The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven and in the story was a quote from Viktor Frankl who survived the Nazi prison camp. He wrote "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances to choose one's own way." Our attitude determines how we will go through times of suffering.
When I was younger and my parents would take me and my siblings to something we did not want to go to, they always said, "you just have to make it fun!" I hated it when they said that but looking back, it makes sense. It is your attitude that can determine so much of your life.
You may want to read Philip Yancy's Where is God when it Hurts? and/or Al Weir's When the Doctor has Bad News. Both talk about (in somewhat different terms) "choosing one's attitude in a given set of circumstances" and the joy and renewed purpose for life than can ensue.
ReplyDeleteKeep thinking, Sarah! You are using the slower pace of life in Africa for very valuable efforts.