On TBN’s Better Together, Priscilla Shirer discusses how Jesus faced suffering. Join the conversation as Laurie Crouch, Chrystal Evans Hurst, Victoria Osteen, and Elaine Fisher join Priscilla Shirer to discuss how Jesus endured suffering, and the beauty found on the other side of obedience.
we can tend to think or pretend that a
good life is mutually exclusive of pain
a painful life that those two things
can’t exist that we’re striving for ease
and happiness and we’re looking for that
and then as even as I talk to my sons
about what it means to to walk with the
Lord and be a believer and be a
Christian it doesn’t mean ease it means
that when there is pain and suffering
God can still be glorified through your
life and that he is fully able to turn
the situation around
foreign
we cannot live and not have any
suffering any painful times any Seasons
that we wouldn’t prefer you’re going to
right
um it’s guaranteed just by virtue that
we’re alive and man I can remember there
were three women that were each going
through separate hard times this is
maybe three years ago and during that
year there were three women in my life
that were all going through I mean hard
stuff illness uh trauma
and each of them were at such a low
point a hard point with their
physicality that they either didn’t have
the strength to literally pick up their
Bible and read or they couldn’t attend
church anymore because of their health
issues they literally could not function
in the way they usually would because of
what was happening in their life and
each of them independently of each other
they don’t even know each other but as I
was talking to them individually and
spending time with them they each said
something similar they said I’m so glad
that me and the Lord already had a thing
going on because now that I’m in the
midst of this where maybe I can’t even
get out of the bed there are scripture
verses that will come to my mind or
there’s hymns right mom was one of them
there are hymns that Mom would just
start singing when she couldn’t even
move anymore she would just start
singing these little hymns that that
were buried on the inside of her she
would be encouraged by it these women
were encouraged by things that the Holy
Spirit would bring to their mind about
their friendship with the Lord they were
so glad that they had stabilized
themselves in Good Times in preparation
for bad times and so I think that’s so
critical for all of us knowing that
we’re going to walk through suffering
they’re going to be things that come in
our lives that we do not prefer well
then when things are pretty steady we
better be using that time to cultivate a
friendship and a stability with the Lord
you know I think I do think that we
handle we process things and we handle
things differently you know and I and I
and I have a way to and I think it was
the way I was raised like you know when
my kids would fall down and scrape their
nail I’m like you’re okay you’re okay
come on come on come on you’re okay
you’re okay you know and and I think it
may be the generation that my mother was
raised in and I was raised in that it’s
like okay just don’t worry about that we
can’t look at that we can’t think of
that we can’t we can’t take time to
process that you know we’ve got to move
forward we’ve just got to move forward
and sometimes I think it results in
stuffing things down you know and and
maybe that has you know
detrimental effects yeah and I think the
way I process thing is is I try to
ignore certain things you know and I
like of course I process it through
prayer and talking to God and I think
but you know it’s how we it’s how we
find ourselves doing different things
different situations you know like if
you’re talking about your mother’s death
you know you probably I don’t know if
you even processed it the same way nope
if you found yourself doing it
differently but I mean you can’t you
can’t get any more suffering than death
and loss like that you know that’s just
a that tears your soul you know that’s a
tearing away literally yeah and so I
think I think that we shouldn’t be
ashamed that we process it differently
or feel like this one did it better than
I did or you know so I think sometimes I
just think about people listening and
and they’re thinking well how should I
process suffering you know I mean I
think the first thing we need to do is
run to the father that’s right because
he’s the only one that can help us and
to be truthful with him honest and
honest and open and
um you know a day that you could hear in
his in in in his writings you know he
was open he was honest with God but it
was as he began to talk he began to
shift yeah that’s right his perspective
that’s right and it was it was only by
the power of the Holy Spirit it was only
by God you know shifting that for him
and helping him see things in a
different way and Enlighten him in a
different way but I think that I can
just hear some people say well how am I
supposed to and I think you have to do
it by going to God and in your own
personal way that’s right that’s right
and and also the ministry of community
people who have suffered as you are
suffering I think that’s at least one of
the benefits that come out of tough
times in our individual lives is that we
come out of that tunnel to the other
side that we never thought we’d make it
through and then the Lord gives us
opportunity to comfort those with the
comfort that we have been given and to
give them that same hope that listen I
just went through this time someone made
it out let me tell you and let me show
you how the Holy Spirit helped me how
prayer Works how you know Community
during my time of suffering was so
important people encouraging me now let
me offer that same encouragement to you
um Victoria you know your your husband
did that for me he called me
while Mom was sick and I mean that man
encouraged me and just said you know we
we walk through real difficult times as
well so let me remind you of some of the
things that it’s so easy either to
forget or to just have so dulled and
pushed down underneath all of the the
Urgent sort of things that are that
you’re facing in the middle of a crisis
it can be so dulled that you just need
someone to come alongside of you and say
let me remind you of who Jesus is that
he still is who he says he is that he is
still able and fully capable of covering
you and your family to have people’s
voices in your ear who can remind you of
that and can also give you perspective
from their own seasons of suffering
it buoys you up and keeps you going to
the next 24 hours like nothing else like
nothing else yeah you know I I always
think
going through suffering and hardships
and people dying that you’ve believed
God for yeah I mean we’ve we’ve all put
our faith on the line for so many things
and just God please you know please let
this happen and and to think that Jesus
got the fathers no as well you know he
he got he got God’s no
and so I think praying that gethsemane’s
prayer it’s it’s God I know you can I
know you can deliver me I know you can
do this I know you’re the great
physician I know you you know you are
the the father to the fatherless and the
husband to the husbandless and all the
things that you are you’re the great
physician
and I know you can do it
but if you don’t thy kingdom come thy
will be done and Jesus had to do that
please let this cup pass from me we can
we can say who God is and then we can
pray God please don’t make me do this
don’t let don’t let me and my children
have to walk this road
but then
it’s but not my will but thine be done
yeah you know and and knowing the
faithfulness and the love of God
and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to
take us and the grace and the mercy of
God to bring us out of those times to to
to to strengthen us I mean think about
some of the hardest things you’ve gone
through it makes you who you are today
gives you something gives you absolutely
the tenacity I mean if it’s given me
nothing but tenacity to believe God even
harder the next time
whether it happened or not it
it does something on the inside of us to
strengthen our faith I believe if you
don’t
let go if you don’t stop if you don’t
give up and you know and don’t you think
that we have to re retrain our own
thinking and make sure we do this with
the children or the other people that
we’re discipling and pouring into as
Christians
we can tend to think or pretend that a
good life is mutually exclusive of pain
a painful life that those two things
can’t exist that we’re striving for ease
and happiness and we’re looking for that
and I know people that’s that’s kind of
a a western kind of perspective on on
being a believer that ease is what we’re
after that happiness is what we’re after
there are some people Christians in
other parts of the world
um I remember someone saying to me that
that lives in another part of the world
that when there is suffering happening
amongst them that their first prayer is
not deliverance from that suffering they
pray that too but that’s not the first
prayer the first prayer is Lord help me
to glorify you in this suffering yeah
while I’m here since I’m here can your
name be made great somehow through the
suffering now Lord yes heal and deliver
and free and we know you can do all that
but why while you’re going to leave us
here in this moment for whatever time
frame it is a week or a month or
whatever Lord would your name be made
great while we’re here and I just
thought it’s important for me and then
as even as I talk to my sons about what
it means to to walk with the Lord and be
a believer and be a Christian it doesn’t
mean ease it means that when there is
pain and suffering God can still be
glorified through your life and that he
is fully able to turn the situation
around but since life is going to come
with difficulty and it is you don’t have
to go looking for the storms of life you
just keep living and the storms somehow
find you so since that’s going to happen
then we at least need to be mindful of
praying okay Lord why have you allowed
me to be in this pocket yeah and would
you be glorified through the way I
respond the decisions I make the way I
treat out others while I’m in it let me
glorify you while I’m here