blessing

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children....No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12: 7,11)

I think about this passage a lot and it encourages me. My reaction when I suffer is to think that something has gone wrong and to hate it. I also make the mistake of thinking it's permanent - that I'm going to be in pain indefinitely. But the Bible teaches us that our suffering is meaningful and also temporary. It hurts and it's overwhelming in the present, but later it becomes a gift.