Suffering

Today at Leadership for Young Life we talked about the idea of suffering as mentioned in Romans 5. One of the questions brought up was do we actually suffer. I think that is a hard question to answer. I mean in my life I think there are hardships. I point to things like a lack of financing, packed schedule, leading an urban ministry...ect. When I really think about it though I don't have much to say when compared with people like Corrie Ten Boom, Hudson Taylor, Detrick Boenehoffer, Paul, any of the apostles, foreign missionaries in hostile countries, I mean there are people out there actually suffering for the Gospel. When I look at the "hardships" in my life when compared with those actual hardships I feel a little lame. Still all the same I am called to stretch my faith by trusting God more and more with the risks I am willing to take. If that means being more bold in presenting the Gospel or reaching out to kids I normally wouldn't, I am called all the same to be justified by my faith in action. Maybe this time of small trials is a period of preparation for me to face larger trials later, regardless of whether it is or not I am still called to be faithful to the Lord in the position of being uncomfortable that I may experience. I think suffering may really be relative. Someone who is consistently fed 3 meals a day might think only eating one meal a day to be a great hardship whereas someone who eats regularly one meal a day might think that not suffering at all, maybe even a blessing. When it comes to real suffering it's a question of perspective. If I am convinced that this earth is not my home and I am only here to visit and do the work of God diligently while I am here then maybe I need to adjust my perspective of suffering a little bit. I should expect things to be hard here because I am living in a broken world whose prince is Satan himself. How much should I really expect from a place like that?