I know so many young people who are suffering through sickness—some facing battles that seem too heavy to bear. I wish I had the power to take that sickness away from them. At times, I even feel guilty for not having to carry the same burden myself. As I prayed for them, I kept asking the Lord, “What can I say? What can I pray that would give them hope?”
But my Lord was silent—except for one verse that echoed again and again in my heart:
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NLT)
I struggled with that. “Lord,” I said, “this sickness is no small thing. It could last for years, or it could take their life. How can I call that small?” Yet nothing else came—just this verse. A quiet reminder that even in our greatest pain, God is doing something eternal.
Then last night, I had a dream. I found myself in a home overshadowed by deep trouble. As I prayed, the Lord revealed that a demonic presence was tormenting the household. I stood my ground and commanded it to reveal itself. It obeyed. The refrigerator began to move, trembling under an unseen power. Then I demanded to see its ruler—the head of the demonic host.
When that dark presence appeared, I called upon my guardian angel—the one God told me each of His children has. I felt the strength of heaven beside me.
What happened next stunned even the darkness. I looked at the demonic power and said, “Thank you.”
I thanked it for the suffering it brought—not because I loved the pain, but because I finally saw what it produced: glory.
This confused and enraged the demon. It could not understand gratitude in the face of suffering. It tried to harm me but could not, for the angel of the Lord stood guard. The more I thanked God for the trials that refine us, the more powerless the darkness became, until it fled completely.
When I awoke, I understood. Suffering is not meaningless; it is the furnace where eternal glory is forged. What looks like loss is often heaven’s hidden gain.
As C.S. Lewis once wrote,
“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
I thank the Lord for these young couples and for all who are walking through the fire of affliction. Their pain is not wasted. It is producing a glory that will outshine every sorrow.
Thank You, Lord, for renewing their spirits and giving them a future that will last forever. When Your children begin to see pain and hardship through Your eyes, they will find that suffering itself is the very grace You gave to Paul when he prayed for his sickness to be removed — a grace that says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”