Suffering and Hope

Embrace Both this Lent and Easter Season

By Jean Mondoro

How often do we consider the good side of life’s challenges when we are in a season of suffering? Do we recall how God carried us through hard times after we have entered into a subsequent season of joy? Or do we compartmentalize the joys and sorrows of our lives so that it’s less obvious how God works in each season?

I was recently expressing stress and discouragement about my own season of difficulty to my mom, who sympathized with the difficulty, then smiled knowingly and told me, “These are good things.” In the moment, I couldn’t quite grasp that