Shane Hipps - Does God Suffer Like Us?

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A wonderful post by Shane Hipps, a pastor and author serving at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Somewhat fitting of a read for me, coming off the heels of my preview post.

Here's a snippet of what Shane's getting to:

But when pain finds purpose or meaning it transforms from mere hurting into suffering.  We could use the word Suffering to describe pain with purpose.  Suffering is pain set in a larger context.  Suffering is what happens to a woman giving birth.  The labor pains are extraordinary, but the pain becomes mere memory when the child is born (so I’m told). The pain is matched only by the clarity of purpose.

Discovering that pain may have a purpose doesn't alleviate - even a smidgen of - the grief or insult, but it can help put the pieces of your life back to better. Better to have a God that spends sleeplessness nights tending to us than a God who falls asleep on the job.

G&P
- Andrew