The cup of suffering

Written by Flore Meyer

What if Jesus invites me to drink it?
A return to Haiti seemed difficult. To return in the midst of so much suffering. I wish I could ignore and not face reality. My time in the United States included work, but also moments of fun and relaxation. I was living in another reality and the distance gradually allowed me to forget the fear, the stress, the suffering, the horrors of war... But Jesus invited me to go back there. This cup, I drank it when I saw the fear in the eyes of Haitians, I drank it when I heard the shots that left a man dead in front of our house, I drank it when I heard the hunger that tugs at the stomachs of so many children. When despair is on the lips of those I speak to. When mourning and sadness is in the hearts of those I meet daily. I could have avoided it or denied it and yet this verse carried me: "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:13
I believe that drinking the cup of suffering can give a new dimension to the cup of joy. I believe, as Bill Johnson so aptly said, that there are dimensions of God's presence that we can only find in the valley of the shadow of death. Sometimes I'll want to look away, but I'm encouraged to face it. Suffering is all around us and no matter what, I want to face it with God by my side.

Here is one of our value in Iris.

“We understand the value of suffering in the Christian life. Learning to love requires willingness to suffer for the sake of righteousness. Discipline and testing make saints out of us, and produce in us the holiness without which we will not see His face and share His glory. With Paul we rejoice in our weaknesses, for when we are weak we are strong. Under great pressure we learn to rely on God, who raises the dead (2 Cor. 1:9)."