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A new acquaintance asked if I had written a book. Though not yet published, my manuscript, Shuffle If You Must: Lessons of Perseverance from Along the Broken Road, is finished. I described it to this person as my offering to suffering sisters and shared with her one of the lessons I now see in both my life and throughout scripture: suffering leads to glory.

Her reply caught me off guard. She said bluntly, with some skepticism: “You don’t look like someone who has suffered.”

I imagine her observation was intended to land like a compliment rather than a sting of dismissal. All I could muster to say was, “Then, that is evidence of the gracious work of God!” This is true. It’s also true that we might want to be very slow to suggest that someone who is upright and smiling, even cheerful, hasn’t been through, or may presently be going through, an unthinkably agonizing ordeal.

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Thomas was one of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve. When he heard that Jesus was alive, that He had been resurrected from death after His torturous ordeal, Thomas doubted.

He said in John 20:25:

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Thomas wouldn’t believe that he was looking at the resurrected Jesus unless he could see and feel the evidence of His suffering. Thomas watched Jesus die a grueling death, beaten beyond recognition. Unless he saw the scars from the brutality that he witnessed, he wasn’t going to believe that this was the suffering Christ he knew. Thomas needed to see the scars.

I’m thankful Jesus chose to keep his scars in His resurrected, glorified body. He could have appeared to Thomas completely unmarked. He didn’t. His scars were proof of, and indeed part of, His resurrection story.

A few things to consider as you seek to extend kindness to sufferers:

-Not all suffering, past or present, is visible. (Proverbs 14:13)
-Broken bodies can break the spirit, at least for a season. Be gentle. (Proverbs 18:14)
-None of us is at our best when we suffer, so give grace, lavish grace. (Ephesians 4:32)
-Everyone has a story, and some stories are really, really hard. (Psalm 139:16)
-Be present. Listen without offering advice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15)


A few words of encouragement to you who are currently suffering:

-In a mustard-seed kind of way, suffering gives us the gift of identifying with Christ. (Phil. 3:7-10)
-Sitting isn’t quitting. (Psalm 23:2)
-Everything lost will be restored. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
-There is mercy in the “no’s” of God. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
-Wait in confidence. Every storm will pass. (1 Peter 5:10)

Suffering marks us. Sometimes suffering leaves visible indications that we’ve been through a fire and survived. Sometimes suffering leaves no outward perceivable trace. Oftentimes, suffering alters our life course. Always, always suffering changes us and leaves us with a story to steward.