Soul Scientist

Romans 8:28 AMPC We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

“What “tools” does God use, by His Spirit, to work in our lives? There are three tools: the Word of God, prayer, and suffering.” (Wiersbe, 1974)

While reading that quote by Wiersbe just now, I was reminded yet again of the tender kindness of our Good God Who wastes nothing. He uses the very things we’d like to remove from our lives, i.e. suffering, as what He uses for good and growth in our lives. I need to remember that truth as the days grow darker and the nights longer. And I must remember this – God wants to use the very things we often remove from our lives, i.e. the Bible and prayer, as we get busier and busier with things we think are good for our lives (but really aren’t).

There is nothing in my life more important than listening for and to the voice of God….

God is faithful and attentive when we are not.

He is slow to anger and rich in love when we are not.

He is tender and forgiving when we are not.

We aren’t called to stop at the saying or the singing about God’s working in all things for us. We are called to life in the full in this day, this opportunity, this people. We are called to reside, to rest in Christ while acknowledging that He does and will use all things for the good of His purpose to be known in and through our lives (see John chapter 15).

And oftentimes, the making known of an eternal purpose far bigger and better than we ever hoped for is best seen when the layers of the unimportant are stripped away by suffering. There’s no sharper knife than loss to expose the true contents of a mind and a soul. Pain’s acute edge cuts away everything except what a person truly believes about God. And there in the exposure of what remains in the grief is what will bring someone to God or make him leave God.

This doesn’t mean we are called to rejoice for the pain, grief, and loss. Rather, we are to rest in the truth there is joy to be found in the pain, grief, and loss. Finding joy may not be easy or in expected places. Rather, Scripture tells us that the prospect of the righteous is joy (Proverbs 10:28b NIV).

Joy.

That treasure which must be hewn out from the deep below in the secret places (see Isaiah 45:3). Those secret places which are only brought to light for healing and hope when the suffering has cut far deeper or longer than we thought possible. As Christians, we are called to mine the everyday for the often deeply-buried treasure of joy.

We can be renewed in the truth that joy is here, too, in the pain, the loss, and the grief.

The kind of joy that brings strength and support, hope and hearing God’s still, small voice, and courage and confidence as co-heirs with Christ (see Nehemiah 8:10, 1 Kings 19:12, and Romans 8:17). This kind of joy is an incomparable treasure worth digging for past overwhelming emotions and everything that tells us to give up and give in to the mundane and easy answer of saying “no more, no more.”

From personal experience, joy isn’t confined to overcoming an illness or putting a loss behind me. It’s found when daring to trust God in the illness and in the loss. Being honest with myself and others in the depth of the costs of illness or loss while seeking to honor my God makes the jewel of joy shine even brighter. The strength of joy and its light will never be overcome by the darkness of the death of dreams or the daily demands of disability (see John 1:5). Not even regret or shame is stronger than the fresh joy of forgiveness given with the new mercies of today (see 1 John 1:9 and Lamentations 3:22-23).

Joy isn’t even a prisoner to cancer or death.

Joy is a Person, our Christ and Deliverer.

And I know this in my head and in my heart – only Jesus and His joy are stronger than the side effects of surgery and chemotherapy. Only Jesus and His joy are closer than the implications of current or future diagnoses. Only Jesus and His joy last longer than the life changes required as my body returns day by day to the dust from which I came (see Genesis 3:19).

Jesus is the One Who comes and stays closer than a brother, no matter how long the pain, grief, or loss (Proverbs 18:24 NIV). And His joy will make you [and me] strong (Nehemiah 8:10c ERV). He has already overcome everything for you and for me, too (see 1 John 4:4).

Jesus is all we need, all the time, for all we might face. Be it death or diagnosis, defeat or disappointment, discontent or denial, disability or disapproval. Be it cancer or chronic illness, bedrest or bitterness, pain or our past, loss or longing.

Jesus is stronger than any suffering. Yet He often chooses to make Himself seen in suffering. And when I see Him in the suffering, I see the joy He brings for strength in the suffering.   

2 Corinthians 2:9-10 TLB Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him.

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Written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2025.

Wiersbe, W.W. 1974. Be Joyful: Even When Things go Wrong, You Can Have Joy, David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO, p. 77.