Greatness and suffering
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
The tiny breath that God invested in man makes the soul (our real “I”) into an ideal vector for the manifestation of the divine perfection. The human tragedies show how much challenges require creativity and enthusiasm to be overcome. God answers this necessity of perfecting this world by means of the victories and failures of man in whom he invested his breath of life. That breath - this divine particle - is what makes the greatness and perfection of man, however small and imperfect he is. “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
The apostle Paul makes this magnificent testimony about the churches of Macedonia: “In a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (II Corinthians 8:2). This testimony perfectly illustrates that nobody can really appreciate happiness and joy without having known poverty, afflictions, and sufferings. It is the tests, which forge the character. It often happens that those who became rich and prevail in world affairs proudly tell their success is the result of tireless efforts made to overcome poverty and contempt endured in their childhood. Other people, often of the most humble, tell with emotion how much the terrible cataclysms of which they were victims aroused from part and the others such treasures of generosity, compassion and kindness that they were able to rebuild their life. The stories of distresses, misfortunes, despairs, and tribulations endured are often epic dramas where the hearts and souls transcend their suffering by faith, hope and charity. Of course, the reactions in front of distresses are not always so noble, and sometimes go wrong. However, this is the price to pay for who tends to perfection.
Many do not understand that pleasure and happiness are the fruits of sufferings, neither that goodness is conditioned by evil, love by hate, and happiness by sadness, and victory by possible failures. “Although [Christ] was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8). The tests allow us to learn to obey Christ’s command: “As I have loved you, you also love one another” (John 13:34). Learning to overcome suffering by goodness and love is what we can do best to serve God.
“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him” (II Corinthians 8:1-3). We all have knowledge, but what do we know? People imagine many things and have certainties; but God laughs at them: “The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed… He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.” (Psalm 2:2-4). How is it that the man saddens, rises up, rebels, and becomes stubborn? Because he only sees the incoherent, confused, and sad backside of the tapestry of life. But God sees with amusement how knots and threads that interlace seemingly at random at the back of the tapestry are transformed on the front side into a very beautiful picture which reveals little by little his divine design.
God is not only “outside” the world, but also “in” the world where he is intimately involved in the sufferings, afflictions, and joys of our lives. By sharing our tests, God makes our daily life more significant, difficulties more easily digestible and pleasures even greater. According to the saying, “A shared sadness is half sadness; a shared joy is doubled joy”. Then “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” (I Corinthians 10:13). However, it is not for it that we have to sadden God for reasons so trivial as of loss of money or honor because we have not yet learned to digest them. Actually, the tests we go through, however difficult they may be, always give possibilities of growth and perfection.