Suffering and Consolation

by Charles Spurgeon

As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so the consolations of Christ abound. Here is a blessed proportion. God always keeps a pair of scales—in this side He puts His people's trials and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy; for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, even so shall consolation abound by Christ. This is a matter of pure experience. Oh, it is mysterious that, when the black clouds gather most, the light within us is always the brightest! When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the heavenly captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of Christ.

Trials make more room for consolation. There is nothing that makes a man have a big heart like a great trial. I always find that little, miserable people, whose hearts are about the size of a grain of mustard-seed, never have had much to try them. I have found that those people who have no sympathy for their fellows—who never weep for the sorrows of others—very seldom have had any woes of their own. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—He finds it full—He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have.

I recollect walking with a ploughman, one day, a man who was deeply taught, although he was a ploughman—and really ploughmen would make a great deal better preachers than many college gentlemen—and he said to me, "Depend upon it, if you or I ever get one inch above the ground, we shall get just that inch too high." I believe it is true; for the lower we lie, the nearer to the ground we are—the more our troubles humble us—the more fit we are to receive comfort; and God always gives us comfort when we are most fit for it. That is one reason why consolations increase in the same ratio as our trials.

Then trouble exercises our graces, and the very exercise of our graces tends to make us more comfortable and happy. Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and wherever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts: full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God. O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone: they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by-and-by. Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah! no; though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon. Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah! no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers. And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He has forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope: for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late.

Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. I speak from heart knowledge and real experience. We never have such close dealings with God, as when we are in tribulation. When the barn is full, man can live without God; when the purse is bursting with gold, we somehow can do without so much prayer. But once take your gourds away, you want your God; once cleanse away the idols out of the house, then you must go and honour Jehovah.

Some of you do not pray half as much as you ought. If you are the children of God, you will have the whip; and when you have that whip, you will run to your Father. It is a fine day, and the child walks before its father; but there is a lion in the road, now he comes and takes his father's hand. He could run half-a-mile before him when all was fine and fair; but once bring the lion, and it is "father! father!" as close as he can be. It is even so with the Christian. Let all be well, and he forgets God. Jeshurun waxes fat, and he begins to kick against God; but take away his hopes, blast his joys, let the infant lie in the coffin, let the crops be blasted, let the herd be cut off from the stall, let the husband's broad shoulder lie in the grave, let the children be fatherless—then it is that God is a God indeed. Oh, strip me naked; take from me all I have; make me poor, a beggar, penniless, helpless; dash that cistern in pieces; crush that hope; quench the stars; put out the sun; shroud the moon in darkness, and place me all alone in space, without a friend, without a helper; still, "Out of the depths will I cry unto thee, O God." There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for that is the way to be happy—to live near God. So that while troubles abound, they drive us to God, and then consolations abound.

Some people call troubles weights. Verily they are so. A ship that has large sails and a fair wind, needs ballast. Troubles are the ballast of a believer. The eyes are the pumps which fetch out the bilge-water of his soul, and keep him from sinking. But if trials be weights, I will tell you of a happy secret. There is such a thing as making a weight lift you. If I have a weight chained to me, it keeps me down; but give me pulleys and certain appliances, and I can make it lift me up. Yes, there is such a thing as making troubles raise me towards heaven. A gentleman once asked a friend, concerning a beautiful horse of his, feeding about in the pasture with a clog on its foot, "Why do you clog such a noble animal?" "Sir," said he, "I would a great deal sooner clog him than lose him: he is given to leap hedges." That is why God clogs His people. He would rather clog them than lose them; for if He did not clog them, they would leap the hedges and be gone. They want a tether to prevent their straying, and their God binds them with afflictions, to keep them near to Him, to preserve them, and have them in His presence. Blessed fact—as our troubles abound, our consolations also abound.


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Pain Can Make You Better or Bitter—
It’s Your Choice

- Rick Warren Daily Devotional (February 27, 2025).

“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” 1 Peter 4:19 (NLT)

When people go through tragedy and disaster and pain, some turn to God. But others turn away from God—even when he’s offering the comfort and power they need to make it through a difficult time. How pain affects you depends on how you choose to respond to it. Are you going to let that experience make you bitter, or are you going to turn to God—and let the pain make you better? Jesus didn’t come to explain away your pain. He came to share your pain. That’s right—he enters into your pain. He is a God who suffers with you and walks with you through whatever you are going through, whether it’s emotional, physical, relational, or spiritual. Some Christians think that it’s never God’s will for you to suffer and that if you have any pain in your life, it means you don’t have enough faith. They are not telling you the truth. Sometimes you’re just going to suffer. Sometimes you’re going to have pain that is part of God’s will. The Bible says, “So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (1 Peter 4:19 NLT).
Pain is inevitable.

It’s a part of life, even for a Christian. The choice you get to make involves whether or not you will waste your hurt. You can choose whether it will make you bitter or better. Maybe you are experiencing pain right now. If so, you can say this to God: “Are you using this pain to guide me in a new direction? Are you using this pain to spur me into action? Are you using this pain to show me what I need to work on? Are you using this pain to guard me from something more harmful? Are you using this pain to grow me and make me more like you? Thank you that you will never waste my pain. Please help me trust you as I follow you in faith.” Let whatever pain you’re going through right now guide you into the caring arms of Jesus Christ


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Why God Allows His Closest Servants to Suffer

One of the most honest and difficult questions believers wrestle with is this: why do some of God’s most faithful servants seem to suffer the most? When we read Scripture carefully, we quickly realize that deep suffering is not a sign of God’s absence. Very often, it is evidence of His closeness.

Take Paul the Apostle. Few people in history have been more committed to advancing the gospel. He planted churches, raised leaders, endured beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, betrayal, and constant danger. If faithfulness alone guaranteed comfort, Paul’s life should have been easy. Instead, his life was marked by hardship from start to finish. Yet Paul never interpreted his suffering as failure. He saw it as fellowship with Christ and participation in something eternal.

Scripture shows us this pattern again and again. God entrusts greater weight to those He knows can carry it. Suffering is not randomly assigned. It is often permitted where the anointing is greatest and the calling is most consequential. God does not place His heaviest assignments on shallow roots. He strengthens His servants through trials because what He is producing in them must outlast the moment.

The apostles understood this. Many of them were beaten, imprisoned, rejected by their own people, and ultimately martyred. Peter the Apostle was bold, passionate, and deeply devoted, yet his faith journey included fear, failure, persecution, and death. God was not punishing these men. He was shaping them. The suffering refined their faith, stripped away self reliance, and anchored them in eternal truth.

Suffering also gives credibility to the message. The gospel is not merely a philosophy to be debated. It is a truth that must be lived, proven, and sometimes bled for. When God’s servants endure pain with unwavering trust, the world witnesses a faith that cannot be manufactured. There is a depth and authority that only comes through perseverance under pressure.

Most importantly, suffering aligns the servant with the Master. Jesus Christ Himself was perfect, sinless, obedient, and fully surrendered to the Father, yet He was rejected, mocked, beaten, and crucified. If suffering were a sign of divine disfavor, the cross would make no sense. Instead, the cross reveals the heart of God. Redemption often flows through pain before it releases resurrection.

God also uses suffering to detach His servants from this world. Those who walk closely with Him learn not to anchor their hope in comfort, applause, or earthly reward. Their eyes are fixed on eternity. Paul said his momentary afflictions were producing an eternal weight of glory. What looks unbearable in the natural is often accomplishing something immeasurable in the spirit.

But God never wastes suffering. He redeems it. Every tear, every sleepless night, every unanswered question becomes part of a testimony that strengthens others. Those who have walked through the fire carry compassion, wisdom, and authority that cannot be learned in ease. Their scars become signposts pointing others to hope.

Here is the redeeming truth. God’s closest servants may suffer deeply, but they are never abandoned. Their suffering is not the end of the story. It is the process through which God releases greater glory, deeper intimacy, and lasting fruit. What the enemy intends to destroy, God uses to refine. What feels like loss becomes legacy.

If you are walking through a season of suffering while faithfully serving God, take heart. You are not forgotten. You are being entrusted. The same God who allowed the trial is writing a redemptive ending that will echo far beyond what you can see right now.

Author, Unknown