1. Suffering becomes our identity and a pivotal point around which we live our lives. It defines how we see the world and what we believe (or don't believe) about God and His promises. It typically results in bitterness. We're stuck in the past and what happened to us and we miss the beauty of today.
2. Suffering is minimized. Deep hurt is pushed under the rug and ignored; bruises and wounds are not treated. This typically results in feeling numb to the life around us, or anger expressed in ways that make no sense (but really, it does make sense).
3. Suffering leads to redemptive comfort. We call suffering what is it -- it sucks, it's painful, we hate it, we want things to be different. But we trust and hope in His purposes through it all. We rest in the deep peace that His comfort brings. We know that Hebrews 4:14-16 is true. We acknowledge the ugly truth of the past, but we look to the future with hope.
the term "redemptive comfort" comes from the book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp
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