God is sovereign. He is in control of all things. There is not a single atom floating in the entire cosmos outside His control. Every atom dances to the sound of His great music.

He is sovereign over nature. He is sovereign over salvation. He is sovereign over the good and the bad. He is sovereign over even our suffering.

This last part–that God is sovereign over our suffering–is sometimes a tough pill to swallow. It appears at odds with what we see and feel. I’ve struggled with this dichotomy many times as we’ve wallowed through pain and hard times.

The last several years, especially 2019, were hard. We dealt with great pain as we experienced loss after loss. In the end, it was the pain that helped open my eyes to see how right Benjamin Franklin was in noting, “That which hurts, instructs.”

Pain is a great teacher. It helps you learn and internalize truths. It shapes and reshapes your character in important and vital ways. Without it, your character atrophies. You need the struggle and so do I.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His grace
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face

When I was younger, I understood the truth above in only an elementary fashion. That’s the case with most of what we learn. We understand only in part, and a very small part indeed.

God–as a good father does–moves us on from one level to the next. He takes us by the hand, and guiding us through life reveals each new lesson to us one challenge at a time. He, in essence, takes us to school. Pain and suffering then serve as teaching implements in our education. We would learn little of God and wise living in their absence.

Over time you learn to trust that the things you so often consider bad, are in fact for your good. You learn to honestly pray, “thy will be done,” because you understand that the Lord’s will, no matter what it entails, is the best thing for you.