Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit".

Wouldn't we all like to get the lesson without the suffering? I know I would, but that just isn't how life works. Sometimes we are tested by things that threaten to break us and bring us down to points of despair we have never felt before. What kind of tests am I speaking of?

-hopes destroyed
-loved ones lost
-health taken away
-disillusionment in belief systems
-betrayal
-abandonment
-fears
-depression
-wanting what you don't have
-wishing you didn't have something that belongs to you

The list could go on and on... I listened to a public talk where a woman told a story about someone who told her, "I wish I was as wise as you". She told that person that if they wished to have the wisdom she had, they would have to go through the hardships she had endured. That was a powerful statement. It's not just the experiences that mold us, but the mindset we have during those experiences that make the difference. One person sees himself as a victim while another sees himself as a victor. If we allow the difficulties of life to break us, we cheat ourselves of the goldmine of wisdom that is ours. The wisdom is there, but we have the option to refuse it and walk away, either from bitterness, self pity, or the inability to cope.

What does the bible have to say about the right mindset during suffering? The book of Philippians has a lot to say on the matter.

1.Someone who has put their trust in God finds that in the midst of suffering, God has started something good that He will perfect or finish. The qualities of patience, endurance, love, peace, etc. are growing and becoming stronger in us when God works in our lives through suffering.

Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus".

2.Suffering produces humility. And why is this a good thing? Humility allows us to see outside of ourselves. It allows us to take our eyes off of ourselves for a moment so that we can serve others who need our help. Humility brings a specific kind of joy that can not be found by any other path. Helping someone else who is hurting brings joy and often helps to heal the hurts of our own heart.

Jesus was a perfect model of humility. He had every reason and every right to refuse to humble and lower Himself, and yet He did humble himself, so that He could serve us.

Philippians 2:5-8 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many".

3. Suffering allows us to re-evaluate what we value most in life. Is it money? Is it position? Neither of those things matter in the end. People are always more important than things. And yet there is something even more important than this. God created us to have a relationship with Himself and until that happens there will always be "something missing".

If suffering is able to bring us to the point where we are forced to look at what is most important in life, then we have truly gained wisdom and insight.

Paul said in Philippians 3:7,8 "But whatever things were gain to me those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ".

He recognized that there is nothing more important than a relationship with Christ Jesus. He understood that if there is one thing in life worth gaining, it is knowing Jesus.

4. Suffering causes us to look to God for strength. When we realize we are "over our head" we find ourselves asking God for help. God wants to give us help and to make us more aware of His presence and His availability to us. He wants to show us that He loves us. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus".