Coaches used to tell us, “no pain, no gain”. They meant that unless we endured the suffering of practices, we wouldn’t reap the rewards come gametime. Muscles are built through repeated use under stress. Maturity comes through right reactions to the problems of life, thus building character into our lives.
Romans 5:3-5 says, “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 wo has been given to us.” We can rejoice while suffering because it produces good things in us like endurance, character, and hope. Suffering is also one way that God reveals His love to us through the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Reluctant Retiree 