Why??

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that 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. - Romans 5:3-4 ESV

There are many purposes for our suffering. One is to turn our eyes toward heaven. Each of us in our own lives will go through periods of suffering. The question Christians often wonder is "Why?" - "Why is this happening to me?" "Why now?" "What character lesson am I supposed to learn?"

The Scripture above gives us one general answer.  Like Paul, we can rejoice in our sufferings. Why? Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame. 

The importance here is that this hope born in us - implanted in us -grown in us does not put us to shame before God. Why? Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us and as verse 11 continues, more than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Suffering makes us recall what is important. We are saved. Our sins have been erased. Someday we will spend eternity with Jesus in a place where there is no more crying, no more pain and every tear will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4). With this perspective we can join Paul in saying: "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV