Suffering came into the creation through sin. When the coming eternal day of God and glory begins, sin and suffering will be over forever. Then, the only physical evidence that sin ever existed will be the marks in the body of our Lord Jesus. Presently “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.”
It is well to remember that the foundation of all our blessings was laid by suffering, the suffering of Christ. In Peter’s short, first epistle, he speaks of suffering sixteen times and seven of them refer to the sufferings of our Lord.
While it is not natural to want to suffer, God is using even what sin has caused to work for our good. God has promised us that He makes all things work together for good; those “all things” include suffering. Only in suffering are we in the circumstances needed to learn to know our God as the God of all comfort.
When we suffer, we may say or think about someone who seeks to comfort us, You don’t understand what I’m going through, and that might be correct. But we can never truly say that about the captain of our salvation, made perfect through sufferings. He is now our perfect High Priest and comforter. At all times, His invitation to us is, “Come unto Me ... and I will give you rest.”