Deacon Steve Greco: Our Suffering Does have a Purpose

"For me, one of the biggest trials in my life occurred when my daughter notified me she had lung cancer, a terminal disease in most cases. An even greater trial happened six weeks later when she called me from an East Coast-area hospital to tell me the cancer had entered her heart. She said that she might not last the night and was giving her final goodbye.

I remember crying out in anguish! “Why would you take my only daughter away from me? All I have done is try to follow you, devote my life to sharing your love, and this is how you reward me?”

A human response. Afterword, I felt the need to repent. To ask God for forgiveness for not trusting him. I then felt the Lord say to me deep in my soul, “I love your daughter, my daughter, more than you can ever imagine.”

Suffering and trials are difficult for most of us. We cry out to God to fix things: our family, job, health, marriage, relationships, finances, etc. But we think we know best how our lives should run. We don’t ask for God’s will; rather, we usually ask God to do our will."

So what is the purpose of adversity and suffering?

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Our suffering does have a purpose! I often have felt achieving holiness is impossible without experiencing trials. We are well underway to achieving the crown of life when we undergo trials.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.”

- excerpt from Deacon Steve Greco's 2018 book Overcoming Adversity through Miracles.  Click here to purchase a copy and to see what other books are available through Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry.