How can this suffering be good?

Father, we sing:

The Lord has promised good to me,
his Word my hope secures.

(“Amazing Grace,” Newton, J., 1779)

But sometimes, in the years of suffering, our hearts grieve so much that we cry to You when we sing this. You promised good to me…but how can this suffering be good?

But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came (Job 30:26 CSB).

Please give us Your good gift of grace to trust You by turning to You, into the pain.

Grace to trust in Jesus alone for salvation

Lord, we’re all human sinners, never good enough to be in Your holy presence. But Jesus, You’re the perfect, holy, righteous One through Whom we are saved from our sin and eternal death; now, we’re clothed with Your righteousness instead of our sin. Jesus, our gracious Father has given my sisters in Christ and me to You. Hallelujah!

Amazing grace!—how sweet the sound—
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.

We’re weak, but Your strength is carrying us now into our forever home with You.

Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you…I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn. 14:1-3 ESV).

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!

Help me trust that You will help me get through this

Sometimes, we feel like it’s on us. We desperately seek relief and try to control things, instead of resting in Your good gifts in the midst of suffering. But You are always at work, a very good thing as we suffer.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him (Phil. 2:13 NLT).

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (Jas. 1:17-18 CSB).

We often think it’s our own worked-up faith or types of prayers that will force You to make this go away. Forgive us. For You must have much better gifts right now, rather than removing this suffering. Fill us with Your Spirit, giving us grace to trust in You and what You’re doing, and not ourselves or our own works and words.

For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…according to the will of God (Rom. 8:26-27 ESV).

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

Grace to trust that You’re accomplishing Your good purpose for me in this

We easily fixate on our desires so much that it’s hard to trust You with outcomes and timing. So, trusting Your true Word is Your powerfully good gift to us in suffering. Please comfort and help us trust Your Word in this deepest pain, by Your truly amazing grace.

Just like Jesus did.

For those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to 

his purpose… (Rom. 8:28 ESV, emphasis added),

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life (Ps. 23:6 ESV, emphasis added).

The Lord has promised good to me,
his Word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.

Our good and compassionate and loving God,

You encourage and comfort us when we remember Your good purpose in this, to become more and more like our beloved Savior. Thank You, Father, for this immensely good gift.

We consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful (Jas. 5:11 ESV).

Help me trust You in this suffering

And this? It’s Your goodness at work, through Your continual and amazing grace as we suffer, helping us to trust You until we see You.

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 (Rom. 5:3-5 ESV).

And when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
a life of joy and peace.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
than when we’ve first begun.

In the name of our precious Redeemer and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Material adapted from Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle, © 2022

Singing of God’s grace, to trust Him as we suffer

When I struggle to see anything good in my suffering, I have to come back to God’s grace in making me a new creation in Christ. It’s His amazing grace that is right now conforming me to the image of my beloved Savior…in and through this suffering. It helps me trust Him with His outcomes. What a good gift of His deepest comfort.

I’ve made a playlist for the hardest days because my heart needs it. If it would bless you to pray-sing of His goodness and grace to you, I’d love to share the songs with you too. For me, sometimes singing is the only way I can pray when the pain is strong. See below for this or any other resources, sister in Christ.