Don't Waste Your Suffering: One Year Bible Reading for July 8

 Today we look at these verses in the One Year Bible:

1 Chronicles 5:18-6:81
Acts 26:1-32
Psalm 6:1-10
Proverbs 18:20-21

Let's look at the Psalm. The writer is in pain. Who hasn't felt what he's praying? "Lord, how long are you going to let me suffer? Aren't you ever going to hear my prayers?"

Yes, God will hear our prayers and answer us. He will heal our pain and make us whole again. But that doesn't always mean He'll do it immediately. Sometimes we suffer for a little while (which seems like a LONG while) before we're healed.

Well, if you would like some really good insight into what suffering means in our lives, read The Story of a Soul by St Therese of Lisieux. Click on her name and you can listen to it for free on YouTube. 

But what John Paul II means in the picture above is that we can USE our suffering for redemption. Both our OWN redemption and that of the whole world. See Colossians 1:24 for the theology of why we're able to do this. And watch this video to learn exactly HOW to offer up your suffering.

So stop wasting your suffering! God will hear and heal you. In the meantime, offer it up - and USE your suffering to make you a better person!

God, thanks for using even our suffering for our good.