A Christian posted on WeChat that "suffering is an immense amount of treasure for the strong and a bottomless abyss for the weak." Indeed, suffering is a topic never to be solved in the past thousands of years. Everyone encounters misery, whether rich or poor, noble or ordinary.
How to treat suffering? Christians show a different perspective on suffering because of their faith.
Liao Zhi, the Christian celebrity who still dances after lost her legs below the knees in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, publishes a blog post entitled "Holy Light from Crack in Suffering." The dancer writes, "Suffering is really a form of blessings, but the form appears so unexpected that we don't believe that it is a blessing."
Despite her age of 31, she experienced great misery in her twenties. Buried in the earthquake for 26 hours, the Sichuan dancer lost her daughter and both of her legs. Her former husband divorced her. Shortly two months after the disaster, she performed a volunteer dance for the victims and later shot a microfilm named "Inspiration".
She writes that she has seen the holy light hidden from the crack in suffering though she has been not accustomed to suffering. Actually, treasures are hidden in suffering, like precious ores buried deep beneath the earth. The core of suffering can be fully explored when you go deep into it and through disappointment, pain, fear, loneliness, silence, endurance and hope. Then the astonishing thing is that suffering brings men into a kind of beautiful holiness in which they start to meet with God face to face and see yourself differently as well as truth you don't understand. You'll also see a tremendous and holy power that enables human to admit their inferiority, meanwhile, suffering makes them strong.
It makes human brave and fearless. It gives people new birth. They find the real thing that matters --- about life, truth and freedom. It clears their eyes to see that the Ruler of life should be feared. The choice of being in fear and trembling or enjoying the endless blessing depends on your perception of and faith in God.
She adds that she was undergoing such a change at the moment of being buried under the ruins. She confesses that she saw the essence of life and devoted to the light of truth. Trusting God is a choice of freedom driven by love rather than a cage of shackles propelled by fear.
The article reads that however, nowadays a lot of confused Christians follow the trend of the world, ignoring that the truth they hear and read over and over is reliable. They still live in disputes, jealousy and delusions, not getting the truth though they learn the Bible. In her eyes, this is really a pity that they pursue worthless things destined to be decayed although the most precious treasures lie near them.
"Live alone in the will of the Creator in this short life, enduring temptations and attacks inside and outside as well as enjoying the intimate journey with God and sweet grace." She writes.
She also appeals that don't flee from suffering or create misery but live in obedience. Maybe God can't bear to see that we still grasp those useless things or knows our deep weaknesses so that the core of suffering is used to inspire us and blast weaknesses. So he lets us go through hardships for giving us a reward that his beloved children can live out more glory. God wants to shine his own glory upon our faces, the best way in his eyes to share his glory with us, is it wonderful?
Liao writes that she learned obedience and endurance in suffering and her heart was washed softer and purer by the holy light.
Translated By: Karen Luo
