“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” (Heb 5:8)
Father, I don’t want suffering. But I do want more of You. And if suffering helps me know You better, bring what is necessary to bring me near to You.
Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered. When we look at that Scripture, we often focus on the question of how the eternal Son of God needed to learn anything, but that question doesn’t trouble me. The eternal Son of God became a man; and as a man, He had to learn all sorts of things. He learned how to walk and talk. He learned how to count. He learned how to read. He learned carpentry and doctrine. He learned history and Jewish culture. He learned Mary’s fears and Joseph’s desires. He learned weakness and humility. To say that He learned obedience is no surprise.
To me, however, the more important part of that Scripture is how Jesus learned. He learned obedience through what He suffered.
Pain teaches us obedience. Comfort does not. The man who obeys when he wants to doesn’t learn anything about obedience because he is doing what he wants. But the man who says, “Father, if it be possible, take this cup from me,” and who then walks to the Cross – that man has learned obedience.
Suffering changes you. It makes some people bitter and others humble. It shows you your weakness up close. It shows that you are not in charge of your life. When you see these truths, you can mature, for the greatest hindrance to spiritual maturity is self. Suffering has the ability to open the eyes of your heart to see that your “self” is not as strong as you think. Suffering can help you look beyond yourself, and it is precisely then that God can draw nearer. Suffering helps faith understand God in a deeper way.
And suffering often exposes a lack of faith. It is much easier to hide the real you when life is comfortable. But when pain shows up, the real you comes out.
Thus, suffering reveals who you are and changes you simultaneously.
This is why God insists that we experience pain and suffering. He doesn’t want us to hide, and He wants to help us die to ourselves.
