SUFFERING

When Robert Louis Stevenson (a Scottish novelist & travel writer) first saw the terrible devastations of leprosy he was almost turned into an infidel.
 
But when he saw the miracles of Christian pity & compassion in the leper hospital at Malokai, his faith emerged triumphant, and he wrote in the guest book there:
 
“To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferer smiling at the rod—
A fool were tempted to deny his God.
He sees, he shrinks. But if he gaze again,
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!
He marks the sisters on the mournful shores;
And even a fool is silent and adores.”
 
- (moreillustrations.com)
 
1 Pet 2:21 (GW): “God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps.”
 
“God wants us to be totally dependent on Him, and suffering seems to bring us to that point.” -  Joyce Meyer.