(Hebrews 5:8) Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered…he suffered death on the cross.

Our world is filled with suffering and pain.

The big question that is often asked is: How can the God of love allow human suffering?

I understand this question. But what is also crucial to understand is that God suffers in his full identification of love with us.

So, another question to ask is: Why does God continue to allow himself to suffer?

Because we are often so focused on human suffering, we rarely ponder the fact that we serve a suffering God.

God has fully revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the human face of God. In the incarnation, Jesus lived among us as fully God and fully human. Theologically, he was one person with two undivided natures.

As Hebrews 2:9 and 5:8 tell us, it is clear that Jesus suffered throughout his life, and God’s love for us culminated on the cross when Jesus suffered death.

Although this can be theologically complicated, it is important to recognize that when Jesus suffered, so did God.

My point is that God does not simply look down from a transcendent cloud and acknowledge human suffering; he actually suffers in love for us within his very being.

In a sense, he absorbs our suffering within himself and suffers with us in full identification with our pain.

Although I cannot explain why God allows human suffering to continue, it is crucial for us to know that when we suffer, God really suffers.

Most of us have experienced suffering in our lives. For example, some have had a loved one die prematurely, while others have experienced bodies filled with the pain of cancer.

It is eternally crucial that you know that God suffered with you and is suffering with you now.

This is why, paradoxically, Christians can experience deep peace and joy in the midst of suffering.

We serve not only a suffering God, but also a victorious God.

We serve a God who experienced infinite suffering on the cross but has also overcome sin and death through the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus in victory.

We are never alone in our suffering because God suffers with us.

When we truly grasp the biblical truth that God suffers with us through love, then we are authentically able to stand with others who are suffering with the suffering love of Jesus Christ.

We can, in love, bear each other’s burdens.

Let’s rejoice in our perseverance, for as Romans 8:18 assures us: Our present sufferings cannot be compared to the future glory that will be revealed to us.