The pain of suffering in the moment seems intense and unbearable, but our experience of suffering has lasting consequences beyond our present ordeals. As Romans 5:3–5 tells us, “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” The Lord uses suffering to conform us to the image of Christ and to equip us to persevere in faith until the end. In this session, Dr. Derek Thomas considers the role of suffering in the Christian life and how God works in it to benefit us for eternity.

This message is from Right Now Counts Forever, Ligonier’s 2021 National Conference. See upcoming Ligonier events at https://www.ligonier.org/events/