Suffering and Purpose

It is the way of Jesus that the suffering of God's servants, God's ambassadors and representatives, is the way that glory goes to God, that our inherent and unavoidable purpose is fulfilled. If you doggedly make avoidance of suffering your highest priority, you will be misdirected away from the purest, most direct way that you can bring glory to God and thus be completely fulfilled.

It's not that you should be seeking out suffering, or that all cases of suffering maximize bringing glory to God (shall we increase all opportunities for pain, so that God's glory may abound?). But as you do your best to pursue God's will, to hear and obey His guidance, if it leads into or through suffering, you shouldn't be surprised or dismayed. You shouldn't fall into the trap of our era that believes that suffering is evidence of waste, worthlessness, error, or the absence of God. Instead of working to eliminate all instances of suffering, expect God to use your suffering to produce meaning, healing, and the advancement and fulfillment of His purposes.

(Derived from ideas in "How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels"  )