Offering up suffering - how does it works

[louise23marie]

Most Holy and adorable Trinity
One God in Three Persons
I firmly believe that you are here present.
I adore you with the most profound humility.
I praise you and give you thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me.
Your goodness has brought me safely to the beginning of this day.
Behold oh Lord, I offer you my whole being,
together with such crosses and contradictions that I may meet with in the course of this day.
Give them, oh Lord, your blessing.
May your Divine Love animate them.
And may they tend to the greater honour and glory of Your sovereign majesty.
Amen.

Thank you for this beautiful prayer. suffering sometimes makes us forget what we have to offer. I have copied it to use each day.

 

[fisherman_carl]

It also helped to give me the courage to take my anxiety head on, as my suffering would be an offering to God, a blessing in disguise.

This is true. And it gave you courage.

I got angry. It crushed the hope and peace I had found. I dismissed it.

Anything that steals your peace is not from the Lord.

The mandate to suffer joyfully makes it sound as though I am incapable of offering my suffering up.

Jesus doesn’t expect the impossible from us. You can’t judge your relationship with the Lord based on what someone else says or does. If I was to compare myself with Mother Theresa for instance I might feel bad about myself. But, I am not Mother Theresa and I don’t have her calling to do what she did. To me suffering with joy doesn’t mean you are feeling happy or have good feelings, but rather that you have hope because your eyes are fixed on Jesus. Some of us because of past hurts that have not yet been healed can not simply feel the good feelings that others have. That is nothing to be ashamed of. And, Jesus loves you so much he wants you to be healed. Yes, you can offer your sufferings up. That is an act of faith and love itself if you are offering your sufferings for others.

Does this mean that all the suffering of my life has not been accepted by God? That every time I have prayed to God to accept it that it wasn’t worked because I’m not joyful about it?

Of course not. Jesus says that he has collected every one of your tears and has even the hairs on your head numbered. Of course He sees your suffering and is compassionate towards you. How do I know this? Because Jesus is in me and when I read your story I felt the compassion of Jesus for you. I know myself what it is to suffer from anxiety. I know what it is to have a panic attack. I know what it is to feel rejected and alone. Do you think Jesus knows what it is like to suffer that way, when he sweated tears of blood in the garden of Gethsemane? Or when he was scourged at the pillar with a whip? Or how about when he was nailed to the cross with huge spiked nails? Or when he said, “My God why have you forsaken me?” Jesus loves you more than you can imagine and he sees all of your suffering and he wants you to be healed.

It’s great that we can offer our sufferings up for others but suffering is not an end in itself. Sometimes we suffer because we have come to believe lies about ourselves or about others. God doesn’t want us to keep believing lies about ourselves. He wants to heal us of these lies and have us believe the truth about ourselves and others. The truth is that we are children of God created in His image and likeness. God’s image is not junk. You are loved! That means there is nothing wrong with you.

Your experience of suffering will make you a more compassionate person. When you are recovered you will be able to empathize with people who suffered like you did. People who have not suffered like you can never understand it. People who have never suffered from panic attacks can never understand what it is like. They can feel sorry for you but they can not possibly understand what you have been through. You are blessed because you now know what it is to suffer like Jesus. You are blessed indeed! For you shall also know what it is to be healed and to help others to heal too!

By His stripes we are healed.

 

[fisherman_carl]

You are a precious diamond that Jesus has formed. I believe in my heart that God forms and shapes us into precious jewels for His glory. Your suffering is not in vain. St. Paul said that all things work for our good, for us who love God and are called according to His purposes. That you have remained faithful to the Lord through all your sufferings is a precious Jewel in the Lord’s sight. Do not be afraid, for I am with you says the Lord. I will never leave you or abandon you. Your hope is in me. You are my delight. Come eat with me. I will show you true treasures. And you will find rest for your soul.

 

[Hamlet123]

God, unlike humans who are only interested in results, is very interested in our intentions. He reads hearts (and is the only One Who can do so accurately.) True, some people have arrived at such a place where they are able to suffer joyfully, but most of us have to be satisfied with patient improvement in our attitude toward it. It doesn’t matter: As long as we’re offering suffering for His greater glory, He is appreciative.

It’s always struck me how the words “humility” and “humor” derive from the same root–humus–of the earth. We’re all called to sanctity and sainthood, but, assuming I do achieve sainthood, what would my title be? “Saint Odile, martyr of paper cuts and patron saint of broken fingernails?” I get a laugh out of that one: Whatever my sufferings are, they are paper cuts and broken fingernails in comparison to the suffering of Christ for the redemption of all of mankind. And I’m humbled, and joyful to the point of tears, when I think of how, if I were the only sinner who ever lived, He would have gladly suffered all He did for my salvation. Seems the least I can do, once in awhile, is to crack a smile through my own tears, and there are certainly many joyous things around me, when I stop to look at them.

Don’t forget, too, that our emotions are separate entities from our intellects and wills. You won’t necessarily feel happy, but might be experiencing great peace and joy. I agree with Edward H: The advice you got to pretend that you were happy in spite of suffering was unhelpful. In fact, it struck me as a little neurotic: God is interested in honesty, not play-acting. And the only suffering that is wasted is the suffering that is not offered to Him, whether joyfully or grumpily. Read Job: He certainly was not speaking joyfully in his suffering, matter of fact, although Job acknowledged God’s sovereignty much of his discourses seemed a little whiney, yet God accepted Job’s suffering, after reading Job the riot act about precisely Who was in charge and why!

This little line I saw someplace once might give you a bit of a chuckle. It went, “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He also accepteth from a grouch!”

Offer your suffering to God, from where you are intellectually and emotionally with it, and He will give you great graces.

Amen

 

[louise23marie]

Yes Amen to that

I think that if you suffer from anxiety or any suffering which isolates you then the Mass can be a great help

In the mass we make our offering with Christ. All he asks is that we offer ourselves with a humble and contrite heart.When we approach him and we are feeling weak he makes up what is lacking in us He knows us and loves us and he comes to us with compassion in the Eucharist.

In the words of the Euchristic prayer we pray for HEALTH IN MIND AND BODY
and the we wilL be FREE FROM ALL ANXIETY. i wait for these words and pray them with faith in His healing power! These are the actual words in the mass.
It is an opportunity to join with a community and make your offering with them. If you are feeling a bit detached from other people emotionally and not always able feel your prayer this can be a great help
The sacrament gives me great strength even if I don’t always feel the joy.
The sacrament gives me great strength even if I do not always feel the joy.