Suffering and Freedom
Dietrich Bonhoeffer suffered persecution and imprisonment for his Christian beliefs. For him to consider his suffering an integral step on his way to freedom is one of the most amazing witnesses ever recorded.
See what a transformation! These hands so active and powerful
Now are tied, and alone and fainting, you see where your work ends.
Yet you are confident still, and gladly commit what is rightful
Into a stronger hand, and say that you are contented.
You were free from a moment of bliss, then you yielded your freedom
Into the hand of God, that he might perfect it in glory.461
Elsewhere in this book are stories of American and Japanese soldiers who suffered in prison and, through this suffering, found freedom in Christ. Out of the depths they discovered a new and better life. While few of us today will experience the tribulation of a prisoner of war camp, there will come a time in each of our lives when we will discover our own suffering. It could be chronic pain or a terminal illness, losing a loved one, battling depression, or simply a gnawing sense of being unfulfilled.
We need to understand that God uses these experiences to draw us closer to him. Have you noticed that we experience the most growth when times are difficult? When circumstances are easy, we have no reason to rely fully on the Lord. In the Psalms we see how David handled suffering. Psalm 10 begins with a cry of desperation: “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?”(v. 1). But by the end of the same chapter, David comes to rely on his knowledge of God’s character. May our own trials be times of honestly seeking the Lord. (JG)
You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and you listen to their cry, Defending the fatherless and the oppressed, In order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
—Psalms 10:17–18