“But by means of their suffering he rescues those who suffer, for he gets their attention through adversity.”
God rescues those who suffer. How? Does he heal their diseases? Does he deliver them from those who oppress them? He may certainly do that. God is sovereign after all.
But, as this verse suggests, He may choose instead to rescue those who suffer through their suffering, rather than from it. And if this is true, then adversity is not simply a sword in the hand of a Judge; it may rather be a textbook in the hand of a Teacher.
There is no salvation in suffering alone, but neither is there any salvation without it. The Seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, but his heel will be badly bruised in the process.
How much there is to learn through adversity, yet even so, no one would willingly choose it. The Almighty must choose for us.
