“Everything happens for a reason.” Is that actually true?

This week, the conversation on suffering continues as Steve, Rich, and Sarah share personal experiences of being comforted and supported in the midst of suffering. Rich emphatically reminds us that when we belong to Christ, we are designed to be in Christ together.

Steve points to 2 Corinthians 1, where Paul describes the cycle of experiencing affliction and then using what we’ve received from God to comfort others in their suffering. It all comes back to finding true comfort and healing in Christ. God’s grace is sufficient for all of it, but sometimes, that grace is felt moment by moment.

It’s easy to “future trip” and become overwhelmed by what might come in seasons of suffering. Instead, we’re called to take hold of God’s grace right now and settle into the truth that His grace is always sufficient.

This is also where the community of Christ becomes incredibly practical. But as Steve points out, the moment of crisis is usually not when community is built. That’s why it’s so important to cultivate community now, to find your people and invest in relationships that will be there through every season: joy, sadness, transition, suffering, and everything in between.

Rich and Steve also caution against the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason,” and the pressure we can feel to have just the right thing to say when someone we love is suffering. We live in a fallen world, and sometimes the best thing we can do is simply be present, to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Ultimately, we don’t have to have all the answers. We can simply love, comfort, show up, and point one another back to Christ.

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