Information Related to "How Good Can Come From Suffering"
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Sigmund Freud worked as a counselor to deliver people from psychological difficulties. Yet he was honest enough to admit that his ability to help was limited. He confessed that he “cured the miseries of the neurotic only to open him up to the normal misery of life” (Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death, 1973, p. 271). Freud was right: There is no such thing as a trouble-free life.
Since we cannot avoid all suffering, we must keep in mind that it can and often does produce good results. It’s easier to endure suffering and pain when we view them as challenges than when we think of them as unbearable curses.
It has traditionally been a tenet of Western culture, and rightly so, that some difficulties are beneficial in that they can help us mature and become better people. However, author Richard Kyle reminds us that much of Europe, Britain and the United States has entered the post-Christian era, in which “Christianity is no longer the definer of cultural values” (The Last Days Are Here Again, 1998, p. 25).
The post-Christian mind-set rejects the traditional biblical view that hardship and pain-though unpleasant and undesired-can work to ultimate good. Expressions such as “By standing firm you will gain life” (Luke 21:19, NIV) and “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22, NIV), though true, are no longer widely accepted.
The Bible plainly teaches that adversity can produce beneficial results. Even though Christ was the Son of God, He, too, “learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Even secular history provides many examples of individuals and nations that, under conditions of duress, overcame difficult circumstances to achieve greatness. Sometimes one determined individual has provided the spark needed for nations to endure hard times and achieve praiseworthy objectives.
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